Prodding absently at the space where her tooth had been the day before - the space that's still tender, due either to the trauma or the point of a new tooth forcing its way through the gums - Andromeda watches with the others as the sword maker prepares to leave them. It's sunny, beams of golden light sifting through the trees like threads of gossamer. Lovely. She'd probably be more appreciative of the sight if it weren't for the fact that her mouth is still sore.

"There," she hears the old demon say. "See you!"

"See you? You plan to escape alone?" Kagome asks, clearly appalled.

Andromeda doesn't see why Kagome's so upset about it. Personally, she's glad the sneaky old man is leaving. Hopefully he won't try and grab any more of her teeth before he leaves them... besides, if Sesshomaru's still mad at Totosai for his refusal to forge him a new sword or even his interference in the fight between the brothers it's more likely that the demon Lord will seek out the sword maker. Therefor, the father away the old man, the better off the group is in the long run. Andy digs the toe of her shoe into the dirt and wonders if she's being petty. She ends up deciding that she can be as petty as she wants considering Totosai stole her tooth.

"I can't rely on Inuyasha."

"Come on!"

Andy looks up just as Inuyasha tells Kagome to leave the old man be, but not in such nice words. Inuyasha's inability to keep his tongue behind his teeth almost gets his sword taken away from him again, but not really, because Inuyasha's not giving up the sword for anything. Totosai leaves them with a few new bumps on his head and an angry threat as a result. It won't do anything to dissuade him in the future but the thought is nice. Maybe next time he shows up to take the sword back he'll have something useful for Andromeda. Least he could do for her after jerking out one of her teeth. But seeing as there's a replacement slowly pushing it's way into place in her mouth, Andy can't find it in herself to care whether or not Totosai does anything useful with that tooth or not. Without much thought Andy shoulders her bag and silently nudges Inuyasha with her foot, eyebrow raised in question, when he nods in the opposite direction of the one Totosai took their little group begins the slow trek to their next destination. Which is... a horrible way to travel, really. Andromeda's thinking of coming up with some way to track Naraku through, like, a beacon or something. Maybe she'll get him a nice homing device. That way they'll never have to wonder about aimlessly looking for him. Once they kill Naraku they'd be able to go after the jewel fragments more easily.

Unfortunately, they're not even a mile out before the sound of hooves beating upon the ground and a cloud of pale dust rise up behind them. Andy squints at the figure outlined by the dust, annoyed to find a very tense looking Totosai hurdling toward them at full speed. The little ball of light slowly gaining speed behind him makes Andy want to groan.

"He's back." Kagome remarks a little belatedly, clearly not noticing the light until it's too late.

There's a scream as the demon cow and Totosai go flying, their bodies propelled through the air by the force of the light ball smacking into the ground. Andromeda doesn't spare either a concerned look, figuring that a couple of demons aren't going to be killed by a fall. They could, however, be slaughtered by the demon in white that emerges from the plume of dust kicked up by his arrival.

Never let it be said Inuyasha's brother doesn't know how to make an entrance.

"Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha cries as he rushes forward, too eager to fight in Andy's humble opinion.

"Stay put! I will tear both you and Inuyasha to pieces." Sesshomaru says and while she's not doubting his claims it's a little hard to tell who he's talking to. Could be Totosai, could be her, could be the rest of the group. Who knows with him, really.

Considering Totosai is quick to put himself behind Inuyasha... Andy's willing to guess.

"Did you hear that? What will you do?" Totosai demons.

To which Inuyasha replies with, "Old one... you don't want to make Sesshomaru a sword, right?"

"No!"

"Well then, I've had it up to here with all this about Tetsusaiga! It's about time to settle this once and for all!" Inuyasha yells, drawing his sword with a confidence that is clearly shaken when his attack is blocked by a scaled, three fingered grasp.

"Rest assured," Sesshomaru's face is all stark angles and harsh lines lit up by the pale lightning dancing across the sword in his grasp, "it will all end today! So long as you cannot see the Wind Scar!"

Ominous.

Andromeda is quick to usher Kagome and the others out of the immediate line of fire. There's no time to ponder over what Inuyasha isn't able to see and why it has anything to do with his mastering of the sword, not when Andy's too busy making sure her people are far enough back to not end up caught in the cross hairs of this truly ignorant children's squabble. Still, she keeps one eye on Inuyasha as she tends to her friends. Wouldn't be very nice of her to leave her second favorite person without some back up should things get messy.

"So, you found yourself another arm." Inuyasha snaps after he's been pushed back by an overly vicious blow to the face.

"This replacement arm can act as a shield against Tetsusaiga's barrier."

Behind her Sango lets out a shocked, "That's a dragon claw! It'll be far stronger than some demon's arm. But what does he intend to do with it?"

"Kill Inuyasha, take the sword, probably kill us afterwards." Andy can't help but list even as she never takes her eyes off the fight.

Inuyasha, for all she loves him, is obviously outmatched. The lack of training he's received over his life obvious as he uses wild swings and half-thought-out attacks on his brother. A brother, who goes on about the true power of the sword for a moment before attempting to entice said blade into revealing this Wind Scar. Andromeda has no idea what it is but it seems that Totosai, who's popped up at some point during the scuffle, is horrified that the older of the two brothers is able to see it when the younger of the two cannot.

And bless Kagome for asking the important questions because not moments later the old man is prattling, "Simply put, the secret to mastering the Tetsusaiga. Slaying a hundred demons is impossible unless you can read the Wind Scar. Sesshomaru is able to see it."

"Then please teach the secret to Inuyasha too!" Kagome begs.

"It's impossible to teach. Inuyasha must discover it for himself. If he cannot, Inuyasha will die here." the wizened old man claims.

Death and dying, why is it always death and dying when it comes to that sword.

Shink!

Andromeda watches as Sesshomaru drags the claws of his newly acquired hand down the length of the Tetsusaiga. The sword shivers beneath the assault. Still, Sesshomaru is relentless, attacking with a force and ferocity that makes Andromeda light headed with an odd mix of anticipation and nervous glee. Obviously she doesn't want Inuyasha to fail - that would be horrible of her considering their close friendship - but there's something about watching his brother that makes her near giddy with excitement. Especially now that he's using a new tactic to get the sword. While the new arm isn't exactly an original concept, the fact that Sesshomaru is using brute strength as opposed to a devious mix of cunning and cruelty... definitely not something she expected from him. That's all she's really got to say about it.

A particularly hard strike sends Inuyasha reeling backwards, sword singing.

It's not a pleasant sound.

Without thinking Andy takes several steps forward, urged on by her friend's struggle and the mournful twang emitting from the sword that still quivered violently in Inuyasha's grasp. She's not the only one to notice it. Sango and Miroku remark - in nervous, hushed tones - that Sesshomaru is only attacking the sword, not Inuyasha. Which isn't something she'd really considered until just then but it makes a lot of sense. Especially when Totosai begins muttering.

"This is bad," he says, "he's hacking away at the peak of the wave pattern of the sword! Even the Tetsusaiga will snap if it's hit repeatedly like that."

Inuyasha doesn't bother to try and move the sword away from Sesshomaru's attack as the older of the two advances. Can he not hear their conversation? Are their voices lost over the mournful cry of the sword? Andy bites into her lip, heat pooling in her chest. She doesn't know if she can or should do anything to help Inuyasha. This is definitely something he should handle on his own... but how can he do that with no sort of formal training? Andromeda reaches up to brush hair away from her forehead. If she were to help Inuyasha now would it even really be all that helpful for him in the long run? Will her interference cause him to struggle with the sword later on? Can she even help? What would she do other than shoot combustible light balls and throw up shields? Aggravated, Andromeda continues to watch the fight with the others. It's not much of a fight, not even when Sesshomaru's claws manage to hook on the sword during the upswing and send Inuyasha flying into the dirt. Surprisingly, it's Sango that goes rushing forward.

"Stop!" Inuyasha calls, the bite in his voice enough to freeze the demon slayer in her tracks. "Don't interfere! I will kill Sesshomaru with the Tetsusaiga!"

Doubtful, Andromeda finds herself thinking, you don't have enough experience with the sword and you're hardly its master.

But she'll give him points for effort and determination... even if she thinking killing Sesshomaru is a horrible idea.

Kagome goes absolutely rigid beside her and Andromeda reaches over to wrap her fingers around those of the younger woman, who grips her hand so tightly that the bones in Andy's hand grind together a bit. She doesn't say anything to Kagome, though. Not this time. Not when Inuyasha's life is in such a precarious position.

"Why won't you roar, Tetsusaiga?" Sesshomaru says coolly, "Then you shall die with your master."

He's a streak of silver and red after that. Hurtling towards Inuyasha with a speed that even Andy finds surprising. The two brothers meet but there's no sound to signify the snapping of metal, only the irony stench of blood that wafts through the air seconds after the two become fully visible. Inuyasha's sword is angled down and away from Sesshomaru's fist, which is planted firmly against Inuyasha's forehead. Andromeda's eyes zero in on the blood smeared across her friend's face. Head wounds bleed badly. Lots of blood vessels in the face. That's the only reason he's bleeding so much. If it weren't Inuyasha would be in far more obvious pain than he is. Fine, Inuyasha is fine. Andromeda releases a shuddering breath.

"I haven't broken in this sword yet," Inuyasha tells his brother, "and I'm not about to let it go!"

The brazen response is, of course, met with cruel retaliation on Sesshomaru's part. Green mist-like poison swirling around his fingers and clouding around Inuyasha's eyes as the older of the two uses his fist to shove the other several feet back and into the dirt. Once he's gathered his feet beneath him Inuyasha rubs at his eyes, blinks several times, and then stares off into the space around him without actually seeing anything. Blind. Sesshomaru's poison has blinded him. Temporarily, Andromeda hopes, but knowing their luck she'll be forced to take actions to heal Inuyasha's eyes should he make it through this fight. Despite his newfound impairment, Inuyasha doesn't seem all that upset. If anything he seems almost delighted. Andromeda watches as he adjusts his grip on the Tetsusaiga, body turned toward Sesshomaru's, and brings the blade up in a wide arch across his body.

Fingers pull at her, voices calling for her to get down and take cover, and in the back of her head she knows she should listen to them, but she's so consumed by the wave of power the sword sends out that she can't bring herself to move. So she watches as Inuyasha's attack hits Sesshomaru, watches through the hazy white-gold glow as armor splinters beneath the force, watches as Sesshomaru's body twists agonizingly in a useless attempt at escape. Andromeda watches as the sword at Sesshomaru's side pulses once before releasing an inky-blue barrier that swallows Sesshomaru whole. And in the split seconds between the initial attack and Sesshomaru's sudden disappearance Andromeda thinks she hears something. So faint she almost doesn't hear it over the sound of Sesshomaru's rage and the Tetsusaiga's power splintering the earth beneath his feet. Not necessarily a voice, there are no words spoken, but Andromeda is reminded of how she once spoke to her creator, to the stars, to the very universe in which she made her home and playground all those millennia ago; instinct, an impression of feeling, a desire. It's beautiful and gone in an instant. Nothing left behind but ruined earth and blood.

Andromeda slowly makes her way over the gauges in the earth to where a large puddle of blood has been left. She kneels beside it, almost queasy, as the others marvel over the destruction caused by the Tetsusaiga and Inuyasha's sudden mastery of the sword. The blood is cool against her fingers, thick and slimy as she rubs them together, and she can't help but wonder if Sesshomaru is dead or out there somewhere suffering... She finds that she... isn't fond of the possibility that he coudl be suffering. There's no love lost between the two of them. Andromeda wouldn't consider them friends by any means. But he's still Inuyasha's brother and despite their relationship being rocky at best Andy thinks that the loss of another family member would take more of a toll on her half-demon than he'd ever admit to anyone. Besides, suffering like that? Bleeding out, unable to defend yourself against others? It is not a good way to die.

So what does she do?

Does she go off in search of the brother that has been trying to kill her and hers for as long as she's known him? Does she leave him to his own devices in the hopes that he doesn't die of exposure or infection? What about humans? In the state Sesshomaru could very well be in the likelihood of a human or a group of them getting to him is high. Humans can be cruel, this Andromeda has witnessed over and over again. Should one come across Sesshomaru when he's unable to defend himself what would they do to him? The villagers who lived in Jinenji's village would have done horrible things to the gentle half-demon and all they really had were farming equipment and fire, never mind a sword or spiritual power. The question isn't should Andromeda leave Sesshomaru to his chances. It's does she want to?

No.

Sesshomaru may not be her friend but she doesn't think he deserves to die out in the middle of the forest in agony either.

Cruel, Andromeda has never been.

But what if he's not as injured as Andy thinks he could be? Andromeda purses her lips and rises, kicking dirt over the puddle of blood as she does. With as much blood as there is here she doesn't have any reason to think Sesshomaru isn't hurt, but even a less serious injury requires the body to rest and relax in order to heal properly. Decided, Andy turns to the rest fo the group and finds Inuyasha staring at her. While his vision may not be perfect it's clear he can see her - or see something about her at the very least - and so she approaches slowly while the other rush forward to crowd him.

"We should go." Miroku says, "It would be best if we were gone before anyone comes to investigate."

Andy doubts anyone will but she agrees that they should leave. So she veers off to where the three eyed cow is laying in the grass mere feet from her discarded pack. Avoidance? Perhaps. Bringing up the situation to the group is going to take time and she needs to think of a way to convince everyone that her temporary separation from the group is a good thing. Inuyasha is going to loose his shit. So she doesn't say anything as the group leaves the scarred landscape where the brothers had fought behind and remains quiet as they stumble across a stream.

Several minutes pass before anyone speaks.

"So that was the Wind Scar." Inuyasha says, hands still cupped under the stream.

Apparently demons and half-demons aren't worried about getting Cholera from contaminated water sources. Thankfully, Kagome's too busy gushing over Inuyasha's success to dip into the water. Is this something she's going to have to worry about after she's gone? Her humans getting some sort of disease or infection from doing things they've been doing all their lives that they might not realize is bad for them? Just because the water appears clean and well filtered doesn't mean it is. Andromeda runs a hand through her hair. At least Kagome has some antibiotics in her first aid kit. There aren't many but she hopefully won't need to use them.

"You did so great, Inuyasha!" Kagome is saying, "That's the secret to mastering the sword!"

From his perch next to Sango on a large rock Shippo asks, "Did Sesshomaru die?"

Andromeda doesn't miss the way Inuyasha tenses.

"Probably," Miroku says, "he received a direct blow from the Tetsusaiga."

"Someone should check." Andromeda says, causing every pair of eyes to turn to her, "I just mean that if he is dead then we know for sure."

"And if he's not?" Sango asked.

"Then he's off somewhere suffering and unable to defend himself against major threat."

"That's not... necessarily a bad thing." the demon slayer says it not unkindly, just matter-of-factly.

Andy shakes her head and says, "What's worse? A quick death or a painful one? If Sesshomaru is dead, fine, he's dead... but if he isn't he could be put into a worse situation. What's one human or another demon going to do if they come across him in that state? Probably not a lot, but a group?"

"Andromeda may have a point," Miroky hedges, "if one of us were to provide assistance to Sesshomaru in his time of need he may be less likely to attack us the next time we cross paths."

"Unlikely." Inuyasha says.

"But not an impossibility."

It's quiet for several moments before Inuyasha twists to stare at Andy. "He'd try to kill you, ya know."

"And in his current state of being he won't get far." Andy sighs quietly, "If I don't find him within a day I'll assume he's dead and meet back up with you."

"We aren't staying here long, Andy."

"I don't need you to stay to find you."

A dark brow twitches as Inuyasha asks, "Do you even know where to go?"

Instinct causes her to look slightly over her left shoulder, where in the distance closest to the horizon everyone would be able to make see the mountain rising up into the sky. Andromeda doesn't know how she knows he'll be there but she does. Turning back to Inuyasa to wait for his approval is a courtesy. Inuyasha must realize it too because he blinks once and sighs, ears pressing back against his head.

"Fine. Go. But if you don't find the bastard you wait at the base of that mountain for us. We'll be there tomorrow at the earliest." her half-demon says to which Andy smiles.

"I will, now get your sword all nice and sharp and beautified."

Then she offers the members of her group a smile and a hug before she turns on her heel and begins trotting off in the direction of the mountain. Guided by nothing but instinct and determination. Is it stupid? Absolutely. Andromeda doesn't even know why she's doing it, but she does know that even if she doesn't find Sesshomaru she'll be able to live with herself now that she's trying. Sitting back and doing nothing while someone might be suffers doesn't sit well with the softer part of Andromeda. The part that spent the majority of her years on the pretty blue planet healing people, the part that pushed her to save Iphigenia and take Kagome into her heart and claim Inuyasha and the others as her people. It's the softness in her that pushes her to quicken her pace.

"You and your gentle, dreamer heart," Iphigenia had always liked to say.

Considering they spent so much time together Andromeda had never thought to question the daughter-of-her-heart. The dark haired princess never spoke unkindly to her, there was never anything scathing about her remarks, and every time Andromeda did something that made Iphigenia comment on her gentility there had always been a fondness in her eyes. It had made Andromeda feel strange. Humble. But not. Iphigenia's faith in her had always been - and will continue to be - absolute, and as a result Andromeda had tried to be worthy of it. So she continued healing people, teaching people, loving people, never fighting or killing unless absolutely necessary and even then she'd been merciful in her dealings. Quick deaths, always. Even when her rage, her hate, her pain begged for catharsis through savagery. Over the years it would seem Andromeda's grown a certain empathy for people like Sesshomaru.

What kind of a life is it to live when you have nothing but anger and resentment to fill your day?

Pushing the thought, and the way it makes her heart go out for her half-demon's brother, Andromeda pushes herself to go faster - speeding-but-not-quite-flying - so she can reach the mountain in a matter of hours as opposed to the day it might have taken her were she traveling at a more human pace. She slows to a stop at the edge of a forest, sunset spilling through the trees to bathe everything in dream-like golden light. She takes a moment to gather herself before stepping into the forest. A hundred voices great her, their whisperings so faint and so many they've been rendered inaudible. Dragging her fingers over a particularly old tree allows Andromeda to pull a faint impression of joy and wisdom and ancient song. The connection between the lives around her and her through their creator is strong. Andromeda can't help but smile bitterly. In a few hundred years this forest may be gone, ripped from the ground to make way for skyscrapers and concrete and asphalt. Or perhaps not. There are still forests in Modern Japan. Not everything will be lost to industrialization. Shaking the thought away, Andy continues walking through the forest, uncaring of the fading light. She simply continues on.

Wandering aimlessly through the forest is how Andromeda finds him; visible only because of the silvery light provided by the risen, half-propped up against a tree, Sesshomaru appears paler than Andromeda has ever seen him look before. Not surprising, you know, with all the blood pooled around his body. Careful to make as much noise as possible as she approaches the red head moves to lean against a tree at the edge of the clearing Sesshomaru has been forced to take shelter in. She barely spares the little canister and the leaf plate sitting in the middle of them a glance, too busy trying to keep herself from being caught off guard by any attacks. Only, Sesshomaru doesn't attack her. In fact, it appears as though he's asleep.

"Hey buddy, are you pretending to be asleep?" Andy calls, not moving a muscle, "Hello? You awake there, smiley?"

She ends up tossing a stick at him.

When it hits his shoulder and bounces off without him reacting violently - or, you know, not reacting at all - Andy takes a few tentative steps forward. Placing herself where she can keep an eye on his remaining arm Andy moves to give Sesshomaru a rough shake, which only causes his body to slip further down the base of the tree. Shit. Forgoing caution, Andromeda grabs hold of the fluffy thing that hangs over Sesshomaru's shoulder and maneuvers behind and around him like a makeshift pillow, then she carefully slips her hands beneath Sesshomaru's armpits and eases him back until reclining against the white fur. With that done Andy takes a few moments to make sure Sesshomaru doesn't try taking her head off before she loosens his obi so she can pull apart the top of the kimono covering his chest. The sight revealed to her almost makes her sick.

There's so much blood that it's hard to really see the damage but from what Andromeda can tell there isn't any intestines poking out of the damaged abdominal muscles that have been left exposed by shredded flesh. If this is what he looks like after his sword's protection Andromeda doesn't want to know what would have been left behind had Inuyasha's attack succeeded.

A quick glance at Sesshomaru's face shows the demon still unconscious. Good. Andromeda hopes he remains asleep as she presses a palm to the less damaged part of his chest. When he makes no move to kill her Andromeda closes her eyes and pushes her power into him. The onslaught of demonic energy is almost enough to make her gasp out a startled breath, but she pushes back gently against the defensive burst of power that is Sesshomaru's being. Remaining calm, remaining soft, remaining nonthreatening, Andromeda is able to push more of her power into the wound and only the wound, healing the worst of the damage; knitting muscle back together, burning out the beginnings of a possible infection, and healing over the shallower bits where his natural ability has already kick started the process. She attempts to heal the worst of it, pushing more power into Sesshomaru's body, but she's met with a backlash of demonic energy that makes her head spin. Deciding that it would be best to continue with Sesshomaru's consent, Andromeda pulls her power out with the thought that at the very least she can wrap the wound to keep it clean. So she wipes her hands on the already ruined Kimono and grabs her bag, digging around until she comes across her first aid kit. There isn't much to treat serious injuries but she has gauze and cohesive bandages.

Just to be safe Andy smears some antibiotic cream on the gauze pieces before sticking them onto the man's chest and stomach where they're needed, with that done Andy goes about the task of wrapping him up.

Easing Sesshomaru's arms out of his kimono is pretty easy, but getting him propped up so she can wrap him up is a bit trickier. She ends up having to kneel behind him and lean his shoulders against her chest. It's hard work but one roll of adhesive bandage later and Sesshomaru's wrapped up pretty nicely. She'd like to get him out of the clothes he's wearing seeing as they're filthy but it would probably be best to leave him. The more comfortable he is the better... besides, it wound't look good if he woke up without a shirt on. Andromeda blushes scarlet as she eases Sesshomaru back into his kimono. Hopefully he'll be feeling merciful when he wakes up.

"You're a lot of trouble," Andy tells the unconscious demon before rising.

Her bag is placed on the other side of the clearing as she puts space between herself and Sesshomaru in the hopes that it'll make him feel less threatened when he wakes. She makes note of the leaf plate and canister. A handful of mushrooms and a pitiful little cooked fish stare back at her. She tosses the items off into the trees seeing as she's not sure how long it's been sitting out, cross contamination is not a good thing. Besides, she has plenty of food. But who gave it to him? And why? The contents of the container slosh as she picks it up. Water, probably. She sets that aside, figuring that if nothing else she can boil it and use it to better clean Sesshomaru's wounds when he's awake.

Slowly, she goes about setting up a small camp.

Wood is gathered and a fire started between them, Andy's sleeping bag is pulled up and laid out on the ground beside a tree, and food is prepared. It's quiet without Inuyasha and the others, Andy decides she misses them all terribly, but she appreciates the quiet too. Gives her time to get through some of her reading while pretending she isn't totally watching Sesshomaru. Look, she's not dying tonight ok? It might not stick but she doubts healing from having her head lopped off is pleasant. She can't sleep anyway, not when Sesshomaru's unconscious and there might be things more dangerous than the currently injured demon wondering the forest. Andromeda would rather not be caught unaware if she can help it.

To kill time Andromeda finishes her homework, sorts through everything she has in her pack, and then checks her instruments. The ocarina is fine, her violin too. Both protected from harm by Andy's packing skills and their respective travel cases. She runs her fingers over her violin. Tuning will need to happen before she really gets to play it, but with everything going on it's been a little too crazy. So maybe bringing it wasn't such a great idea despite her surety that it would, as a matter of fact, be epic. Not that she regrets bringing her violin. She just hasn't had an opportunity to whip it out and wow everyone with her skills as a performer. Which totally sucks for everyone around her because why wouldn't it?

Rustling in the trees has Andromeda going still, still, still. Not because she thinks anyone or anything in the forest is going to lunge out of the shadows at her face, but because the distinct feeling of eyes on her has her becoming aware of the fact that a certain someone is awake.

"I hope you realize how lucky you are," Andy says, unable to keep her mouth shut, "if it hadn't been for that sword you'd be dead."

Molten eyes remain slitted in her direction causing the red head to let out a huff of breath before she tucks her violin case back into her bag with the rest of her things. She doesn't mover to help Sesshomaru or tend to his needs. He's not a child and she doubt he'd appreciate it anyway. Hell, she's already tap danced all over his ego. Dying isn't exactly something she wants to add to the list of things she's done today. So she remains curled up on the top of her sleeping bag, back pressed to the tree behind her, and watches as the demon Lord assesses his situation.

With everything that's happened today - and their rocky past interactions - Sesshomaru hasn't tried doing anything that would hurt either of them so she takes it as a win.

"You weren't in great shape when I found you." Andy tells him, "I managed to heal up the lesser of the damages but if you want me to finish what I started I need you to not fight me as hard as you did earlier."

"This one does not need assistance."

Eyebrow raising, Andromeda drags her gaze down to his torso and then to the puddle of blood she pulled him out of earlier.

"Get some sleep, I'll take first watch." when he doesn't move to close his eyes or relax into his furs Andromeda sighs, "If I wanted to kill you I would have done it earlier. I didn't waste medical supplies just to try offing you in the middle of the night. Your body needs rest if it's going to heal."

Still he says nothing, staring at her as if he expects Andy to pull the Tetsusaiga out of thin air and try and slice him to ribbons. His lack of trust is understandable seeing as they've never been allies, but Andy also isn't his enemy. Not really. Not like she and Naraku are enemies. Tense though their relationship may be Andy doesn't hate Sesshomaru enough to murder him when he's in this condition. He doesn't know that, though. So Andromeda pulls a book out of her pack, flips to the marked page, and settles back to read by the light of glowing flesh while Sesshomaru watches her. Neither of them have really spoken as the hours passed, the inkiness of the evening hours bleeding into the faded lilac of a dawn sky. Andy's long since finished her book, opting instead to take the time to annotate and mark down things she's thought throughout the time she's spent ignoring Sesshomaru's blatant assessment of her person. Thankfully the staring stopped about an hour and a half into their shared evening, shifting more toward the occasional glance of suspicion when he isn't resting his eyes. Andromeda kind of likes that he's suspicious of her. Makes her feel like she's really accomplished something.

The silence between them stretches and stretches until it's broken by the shuffle of staggered steps somewhere to Andy's left.

Looking up, Andy catches sight of a little girl with long, dark hair in a threadbare pink kimono making her way toward them at a snail's pace. She's got a leaf in her hands loaded with what looks like some sort of plant. None of these things are what make Andromeda see red around the edges of her vision. Oh no, no, no, no. That has nothing to do with the little girl herself and everything to do with the swollen eye, busted lip, and bruises spattered across her arms and legs. Someone touched that kid. Andromeda watches her as the kid creeps up to Sesshomaru, arms extended to offer up the food she gathered for him.

"I told you I don't need anything." Sesshomaru says, not looking at the child, and silently explaining how the water canister and food got there the night before. "What's with those bruises on your face? If you don't want to talk that's fine."

It's... weirdly nice of Sesshomaru.

Andromeda admits she doesn't know him very well but his past interactions with her haven't exactly painted him in the best light, but he's being good with the kid. And not like ok good, but good good. Andromeda finds herself seriously taken aback by the non-violence in his face. There's almost a softness there, simmering in the now warm glint in his eyes and the soft line of his mouth. What the fuck is she witnessing right now?

"If you would like the woman will heal your injuries."

Called out, Andromeda whips her head down to meet the cautious gaze of the little girl and smiles warmly as she says, "I'll feed you too."

Because the kid looks half starved anyway and she has enough food to spare, which is how she ends up with the little girl kneeling in front of her while Andromeda ghosts her fingers over the girl's temples. The bruises fade quickly, so does the swelling around the eye, and finally the split in the girl's lip. The red head takes a moment to look the girl over to see if she has any other injuries before she pulls out a package of dried figs from the depth of her bag. She pops one in her mouth to show the kid it's edible - because who knows how hungry this kid is and whether she'd risk eating something poisonous - and then hands the bag over to thing, grimy fingers. As the kid chows down on the figs, both Andromeda and Sesshomaru watch, a sort of silent understanding passing between the two of them as they observe the clearly starving child eat. They may not be friends, they may not have good history between them, but for now they can be cordial with each other... at least in the kid's presence.

And for now that's enough.