CHAPTER 5

I AM CURSED

Kikyo listened carefully as Inuyasha told her what had happened. When he mentioned a huge white cat she suddenly remembered her own encounter with what might have been the same feline.

When he was done talking Kikyo stood up. "What do you think?" he asked her.

"I don't know," she replied, starting to take some things off a shelf. "I think I may have encountered something like that awhile ago."

He looked at her curiously. "When?"

The woman turned back to him. "First I want you to take off your shirt," she said.

Inuyasha was startled by this commant. "Why?" he asked.

She pointed. "That's why."

He looked down at his hand. It was caked with dry blood. It didn't hurt until then.

"Okay," she said beckoning for him to take them off. "Describe the cat for me again."

"Well," he began as he slowly pealed off his coat and white shirt. "It was white with brown paws. The cat was ten times bigger than me. It also had huge red eyes and wore a necklase with something on the end of it."

Kikyo knelt down beside him and started to apply the medical herbs. "Hmmmm, that sounds about right," she said.

"So," he went on wincing. "When did you run into Kitty?"

"A few days ago," she said, not looking up from her work. "I was walking through the field when this giant cat ran past me. It seemed to be running from something. I could see fear in its eyes. When I looked to see where it had come from then looked back to where it was going it was gone."

"Hmmmm," Inuyasha mused thoughtfully. "What do you think it was running from?"

Kikyo shook her head. "I have no idea." By then she was finished bandaging his arm. "There you go."

"What was it?"

"Hmmm?'

"What made my arm bleed?"

"A cat scratch."

"Oh boy..."

Kikyo laughed.

Inuyasha smiled. He missed that laugh.

He started to put his shirt back on. "Maybe I should go," he said.

"Why?" she asked in surprise.

"You never seem to want me around you."

"I do. But." she looked away. "Nevermind."

He put his coat on and started to go. "I'll see you around sometime, Kik."

"Wait!" she exclaimed, grabbing his arm.

He looked down at her.

"Don't go," she pleaded. "I want to spend some time with you while you're here."

"Really?" he asked, confused.

Kikyo smiled a winning smile. "Really!"

Rin and Jaken searched the whole forest and constantly called Sesshoumaru's name but had no luck. By the time they reached the edge of the forest Rin was in tears.

"Don't cry," Jaken said putting his hand on the girl's shoulder. "We'll find him."

"But what if we don't?" the little girl asked, looking up at the imp. "What if we never find him? What if he..." her voice trailed off.

Jaken knew what she ment. "Nothing has happened to him," he assured her.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

But that wasn't how he felt. For some reason he had the awful feeling that Sesshoumaru was in trouble. I hope I'm wrong, the imp thought. For Sesshoumaru's sake and Rin's...

He helped the girl up. "Let's keep looking," he said to her.

She nodded slowly. "Okay. It's better than crying anyway.."

Jaken might not have been wrong. Sesshoumaru was in trouble but it wasn't because of the cat girl. He'd brought the danger upon himself by trying to poison himself. Even though the toxin had been removed the affects were still there. Sesshy had foolishly slimmed his chances at living.

The poison had caused an infection that at the moment wasn't noticable since he was sleeping and infections usually took awhile to show any affects.

Sesshumaru was dreaming.

In his dream he was a child again. He was running toward his father, his little hand outstretched. "Father!" he called to the man who was slowly walking into a dark mist. "Father! Don't leave us! Mother needs you! I need you!"

His father still didn't turn around and just kept on walking into the darkness.

Sesshumaru's eyes filled with tears as he called out. "Father! FATHER!"

Sesshoumaru tossed and turned violently in his sleep. He was scared. He felt lonely, abandoned. Forgotten.

He called out again as he clutched his blanked and turned on his side, sweat rolling down his forehead. "FATHER! Don't go! FATHER!"

The cat girl watched him from her rug on the floor, pity in her large golden eyes. He seems so desperate, she thought. Is he trying to figure out something?

He cried out once more out of deperation then went still. She heard him panting heavily and wondered if he had woken up. She stood up and walked over to him. She leaned over his face. His eyes were still closed. He was still alseep.

She knelt down beside him. The poison must have done something to him, I wish I understood... She rested her hand on his arm. His right hand reached out and its claws brushed her arm. She gasped and moved her hand back, startled. Maybe I should wake him...

Then she changed her mind and stood up. She started to walk away. I should let him rest. Sleep is the best medichine.

Sessy moaned and she looked back at him. His eyes and mouth were opened part way. He was looking right at her. Their eyes met and locked together for a moment.

The cat girl was the first to speak. "How are you feeling?"

He tried to sit up but wasn't successful. "My shoulder hurts," he said in his soft monatone-ish voice.

She walked back over to him and once again knelt down beside him. "The cut in your shoulder was so deep it reached the nerves," she told him. "I don't mean to sound nosy but how did you get that wound?"

"I got in a fight," he replied slowly, not really meeting her eyes. "A sword fight. The person who I was fighting cut my arm."

"Oh," she said. 'That's why it ws so deep. I just hope I was able to get it all cleaned out in time."

He locked eyes with her. "Do you think it will get infected?" he asked.

Now she hesitated. "I don't know. It depends on you I guess..."

"I?"

"You poisoned yourself," she reminded him. "The poison may cause and infection but I hope not."

He looked away.

"Why did you do that to yourself?"

"I didn't want anymore..." he stopped. He couldn't say what he wanted to say. It would sound stupid.

The cat girl's eyes closed halfway. "That is not the way to do it," she said as if she knew what he'd intended to say.

"I know."

"Then why did you?"

"I don't know. I wasn't thinking clearly."

A brief silence followed that statement. She stared at him until he grew nervous. "Please stop doing that," he said.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I just do. No special reason."

"I won't tell you unless you tell me yours," he informed her.

She hesitated. He waited. She gave up. "It's Mearle."

"Sesshoumaru."

"I know."

"What?"

She smiled. "I'm kidding."

He didn't think her joke was funny. His shoulder started hurting again. He clawed at it.

"Don't do that."

He stopped and looked at her. "Eh?"

She took his hand and pulled it away from his shoulder. "You'll open it up if you keep on doing that," she said.

He said nothing.

"Look," she said, looking at him carefully. "I don't want you to think I'm a pest or anything but I need to tell you this before you try to leave again."

"Hmmm?"

"Your wound is very deep," she began. "I told you that already as you may remember. It was so deep it cut through a few blood vessles and reached the nerves. It was very hard for me to stop the bleeding after I brought you here. It will take awhile before you have enough strength to walk around. Hopefully your nerves weren't affected too much and will heal up as well as the broken blood vessels. I'm not trying to keep you here against your will but I don't want you going out and risking an infection or worse..."

Sesshoumaru looked right at her. He could see sincerity in her golden eyes. He also saw something else but he didn't know what it was. "Why are you so worried about me?" he asked bluntly. "You don't even know me."

She looked right into his eyes. "I cannot tell you,"she said. "If I did I could be killed."

"Why?"

She looked toward the door of the little house, as if expecting something sinister to come bursting in at any moment. "I'm in enough danger already."

Sresshoumaru had no idea what she was talking about but she could sense she was afraid of something... herself. "What are you afraid of?"

Mearle wasn't sure she should tell him but she did anyway. "Death" she said.

"You fear death? Why?"

"Because if is after me," she answered. "I can't avoid it. I must hide form it."

The dog demon could not understand what she was talking about so he guessed. "Are you cursed?"

The cat demons' golden eyes became glazed at the word 'cursed". "I've been cursed for a long time. My whole family was cursed."

"Was?"

"The curse started fifty years ago," she replued. "All my family are dead now except me." Her face filled with sadness.

"Why?" he wanted to know.

"My family is gifted. We are able to seperate half demons and hald humans into two people. Fify years ago someone came to our village with that need. My village could tell this demon was filled with evil and hate and we refused to do that, for we knew that if we did we would be sending more evil into the world. This demon became angry and put a curse on our village."

"What was the curse?"

Her eyes grew watery. She looked away. "I cannot tell you," she said. "If I did I will die..."

Sesshy could not understand. "Why?"

She put a hand on his left shoulder. "It is better if you do not know," she said sadly. He saw her cat ears flicker suddenly. He watched her tense and grab her heart. "No!" she exclaimed, her puples growing smaller and then her eyes turning red. "Not now! Please!"

She stood up and ran out of the house and into the rain as if something was chasing her. There was a long silence afterward that was soon shattered by an ear piercing scream.

A/N

Sorry, I haven't updated this in awhile. I don't really have a 'drive' for this fic but I decided to update it before peple got mad at me. I hope you enjoyed one of the lamest chapters in the fic. Oh, one more thing: I haven't seen very many Inuyasha episodes, I've only seen episodes from the one where the blood ink artist makes his pictures come alive to the episode where Inuaysha learnes the Backlash Wave or whatever it's called. That's about all I have seen so my Inuyasha knowledge is limited. Please do not hold that against me.