AN: Sorry for the cliffy the last chapter! I knew I was going to get a second one up today and didn't feel too terrible about letting you hang a bit :) There's a M rating in this chapter for light lemon, and it's denoted by the line around the segment. Skip if you want, or read if you wish!

The warning was enough that she spun around, avoiding what would likely have been a killing blow. The claws dug into her left shoulder, and she felt the collision as they skated across the bone before exiting her left arm just above her elbow. The scream that tore its way from her throat was one she couldn't have stopped even if she had wanted to. Kagome fell to the ground and rolled, shoving herself up and looking up at the demon that had attacked her.

Rotting. That was the only thought she had in her mind when she stared at it with terror. The claws that had sliced into her shoulder were dripping, and it lifted the bloodied hand to its mouth, licking the blood with a sound she could only describe as laughter. The rest of it was bipedal, standing like the 'goat man' stories she had read as a kid. Skin hung off its frame, and she was pretty sure the white she saw on its legs and across its chest wasn't color..

Shippo's hand closed around hers and yanked, the fox having grabbed her weapons, trying to press the bow into her hand before he realized she wouldn't be able to use her left arm to hold the bow.

"I'll hold it... you shoot!"

"But.. Shippo.." She didn't know what would happen if the little fox tried to hold the bow while she channeled her power. "I can do it.." Kagome forced her fingers to close around the bow, whimpering and felling the tears wash down her cheeks as the fire tore through her back and she felt like she was going to pass out. Her vision swam, and she stumbled, dropping to her knees. "Shippo... Run."

Kagome wanted him to get away - she knew that the demon wasn't going to leave without eating or killing her first, and Shippo would have time to get away. The Priestess grabbed at an arrow with her uninjured right hand and tried to force her powers to the surface, to line it in pink. If the thing came at her, she wasn't going to go down without a fight. Didn't have to shoot the arrow to make it work.

"But... Kagome.."

"GO!" The sound came out snarled, even if she couldn't see the fox as he ran, she knew he had listened. Maybe it was the same that Sango and Miroku had done - and she felt bad for it, but keeping him safe took priority over her own life. The drool dripped on her and she grunted, wanting to shy away, but the injury to her shoulder kept her from doing exactly that.

As it closed in on her, the priestess forced her eyes open, looking up at the demon as it came for her. Kagome lifted the arrow and used it to stab upwards into the demon as its jaws closed around her left arm. The last thing she remembered before nothing, was the way her throat hurt when the air rushed past it with the scream. The way her arm felt like it was splitting down the middle... The last thought she forced was hope that Shippo's feet ran as fast as he could and he got away.

The breeze felt nice, and she smiled, her lips pulling upwards. Kagome looked at the ocean that rolled just down the beach, her hands supporting her as she leaned back on the sun warmed rock. The crying of gulls overhead was soothing, even if their voices were a little on the grating side. Her hair was still drying, tangled and matted from sand and water. It was a nice day, but it could stand to be a bit cooler.. The heat was almost oppressing.

Warm arms closed around her, and she leaned back into his chest, sighing happily and lifting her own to hold his. Claws skated lightly over her arms, and Kagome giggled, looking up into the handsome face of her Hanyou. His lips were in a lopsided grin, hair hanging around them like a silver curtain.

"Did you have fun?" He was soaked, and she found the water dripping from his hair and his face distracting. "You're soaked, Inuyasha. Go shake off."

"Shake...off." The dead panned voice had her turning to see if she'd offended him only to screech as he did exactly that. Right next to her.

"Aaauugh!" The water that he spewed from him wasn't enough to make her feel like she had jumped back into the waves, but it was enough to cool her skin and raise goosebumps. "I didn't mean that!"

"Didn'cha?" His grin heated something far lower than should be appropriate, and Kagome found her face flaming hot. The demon leaned in, taking a knuckle under her chin and tilting it up before his lips captured her own. The breathy moan that fell from her was a shock, but at the same time, she didn't want to try to stop it. It felt ... wrong but so right.

She lifted her hands, sinking them into the mane of silver that poured around them, finding the way her ring caught on the strands slightly annoying, but it was a minor annoyance. Kagome felt his hand go around her back, bending her backwards as he brought the kiss to something on a more carnal level.

He pressed her back against the rock, and she let him, feeling small when his arms came and caged her in, lips still leaving a trail of fire across her own. Between her legs he placed a knee, using it to nudge her own open more and the woman more than happily obliged. Releasing her mouth, leaving her panting, Inuyasha made his way down her throat. Fangs and lips together left her feeling light headed and almost frantic at the same time.

Arching her back, trying to press herself up into him, Kagome whimpered, feeling his hand trail up her ribs. Claws scratched lightly over the protruding bones, working their way up until he cupped her breast, leaving heat and fire searing across her skin. From mouth to hand, Kagome felt like she was in heaven.

"Inuyasha..."

"Hmmm?" The sound was hummed from where he had been working on her left shoulder, biting and nipping his way across sensitized nerves that seemed to leave fire in their wake.

"Please...Inuyasha... I can't." Her breath was coming in pants, the feelings he was leaving across her body creating a sheen of sweat on her skin. A second hand joined the first, and the dog demon slid it down her thigh to her knee, then up under her skirt to smooth across her lower abdomen.

"I can't."

"You can't?" Her question came as he mimicked her own words, his hand creeping lower, searing a trail across overheated flesh that had her thrusting into his palm. "You can't what?" The woman felt like she would go insane if he didn't keep touching her. If he kept teasing her and not giving her what she wanted.

The demon shifted above her and she stared into molten gold, wondering at what he was doing before he thrust two fingers between her folds and bit down on her left shoulder at the same time. The heat that rocketed through her had her arching against him and screaming, clawing the air in an attempt to gain control of what she was feeling. Except, her left arm wasn't working - it felt like it was being torn off, and the scream turned into something more.

Drip.

Drip.

"She needs a healer."

"And who do you think we can take her to?"

Drip.

"We won't make it in time."

"I can't lose her, Miroku!"

The voices faded in and out of notice, the steady dripping of something wet had her wanting to tune it out, to roll back over and sleep, except when she moved, the heat roared through her again. It brought the woman fully awake, the scream echoing painfully to even her own ears, right hand reaching to grab hold of the left arm. Hands touched her right, grabbing it and preventing her from moving.

"Kagome.. Kagome it's alright. Look at me." The voice was soft, feminine and called to a long buried memory. Cracking open her eyes was difficult and painful, but she managed, and found herself frozen.

"S-Sango?" The face that was swimming in front of her own was full of fear, the dark hair hanging over her shoulder, pink shadow marking her eyes. But the smile, that was a thousand watt smile and Kagome returned it. "Sango!"

"Kagome...I missed you.. But if you wanted to see me again, you didn't have to make such an entrance." The attempt at humor was followed by a watery laugh as the woman shifted to sit beside the injured Miko, holding her right hand in her own. The confusion must have shown on her face because the demon slayer laughed again and reached down to pet her hair. "You've been unconscious for two days... Burning with fever."

The woman blinked before she made a move to sit up and was forced to lie still by another warm hand pressing against her right shoulder. "Be still, my friend. You are still gravely injured. Moving more than a little will likely cause you to reopen things." The monks voice was as soft as ever, and she found herself relaxing slightly more.

"Miroku..." There was relief in her voice, and on her face as she looked between the Demon slayer at her side and the monk that shifted to lean into her field of vision. "How...Did you find me?"

"I found 'em, Kagome!" Shippo's voice came from behind her head and she felt his small hands come down to rest on her forehead. "I was runnin' like you told me to, and I saw Kirara... And then I found Miroku and Sango to!" She had never been happier that the kit had found their friends.

"What... about your kids?" She worried - had they lost their children? What had happened to them? The hand that returned to her hair was Sango's, and she felt a sort of safety with the woman she considered an older sister.

"They're fine, Kagome. They're as safe as we can make them.. but you aren't.. We need to find a healer.. Your arm is still.. attached, but.. I'm worried that the demon severed a tendon." That meant they needed to get her to a miko who could reattach the ligament. Except, good ones were few and far between nowadays. "You've had a fever... do you know what it was?"

"You didn't see it?"

"No.. by the time Shippo brought us back to where you were, all we saw was you lying on the ground and a pile of ash.. You'd killed it - but we still don't know what it was." Kagome frowned, but she felt the fatigue of the fever pulling her under once again and struggled to stay awake. The shock at finding her friends had helped push that back, but now she felt how her left shoulder screamed, the burning pain extending up her neck and down her arm.

"I... Uhm.. Rotting.. I think." It was gritted through her teeth, and she felt Sango stiffen on her before the woman relaxed and patted her hair again.

"It's okay, Kagome. I know what it is.. We'll get you fixed up in no time... Just sleep.. Okay?" Sango's voice lulled her back into the darkness that was calling her name, and she welcomed it if it would get her away from the pain of her shoulder.

As soon as the woman passed back out, Sango took the cloth that had fallen from her head and got to her feet. Taking it to the small pool that dripped from the cave, she rinsed it and soaked the cloth before coming back to the priestess. Kagome was laying on a makeshift bed of dried grasses and leaf fronds, the pack she had brought with her stuffed with the same and used as a pillow to support her head.

Sango wiped the sweat from her chest, neck and face before wringing the cloth to the side so it would drain off, and replacing it on Kagome's forehead.

"Sango? You seem to know what ails Kagome."

"That's because I do...It's a Waira.. or it sounds like it. There's not much known about them.. but it's said that they create wounds that fester and rot.. And they eventually kill the one they injure without proper treatment... But.. I didn't think they were around anymore."

"What do we need to do to help her?"

"If you need me to find someone to help Kagome.. I can try.."

"Some of it you can help with, Monk. She'll need to bathe in water blessed by a holy being. You or her, but as she's incapacitated right now, that's you." Sango emphasized the point by gesturing her hand towards the robed man sitting on the other side of Kagome. "If I thought we could find someone in time, Shippo, I would gladly send you."

"But, Sango, I didn't sense any evil in her wound.. Are you sure it's this Waira you speak of?"

"I'm fairly certain. They not only cause rotting wounds, but they are also rotting themselves. It's the only thing I can think of.. And it won't be evil.. Because the injury itself uses her own power to fuel it. In most people, that power is limited, it gives out and so do they. Life force if you will. But with those like Miko, Demons and Monks.. there is a lot more power to utilize and death is slower.. Giving the Waira time to track their prey."

"So... if it uses her own power.. how does bathing in holy water help?"

"It gives the infection and outside source to focus on.. Because it focuses on power - if we give it something say... a large pond that has been blessed.. It will be drawn and extracted from her wound... Or so I've been told. Honestly, I don't know if it will work or not. I'm operating on speculation here."

"Sango... Can't we just take her West?" Shippo looked up at the demon slayer, his eyes wide and full of tears. "It's Inuyasha... if he smells her blood... he.. He might come help her.." The little demon looked down at his hands where they were wringing nervously.

"But he might as easily kill her... That's too dangerous."

"But so is leaving her here!" The boy stood and growled at the monk, his hands fisting together at his sides. "Inuyasha's never hurt Kagome! Even when he was a full demon, she went right up to him and kissed him! Sure he got her a little, but ever since then, he's been really careful with her!" His tail was about two sizes too big, and he knew that the adults, and one demon cat were staring at him in shock.

"I KNOW he'll help Kagome... I know he will.." He trailed off, his words softening as he stared down at the unconscious and sweating miko. "I was hopin' that she'd get him back.. but maybe... Maybe it's her that needs him.." He shifted to sit by Kagome's head, tears falling onto her cheeks as he smoothed some of her hair back into its place.

"It's too dangerous, Shippo...We will cross that bridge when we get to it with Inuyasha, but right now.. Kagome needs us." Miroku got to his feet with a soft sigh and adjusted his grasp on the staff. "Lovely Sango.. I will find us a suitable water source for our young friend and bless it as best I can. Stay safe here, Wife.. I can't lose you to." He didn't cross the distance to embrace her, knowing it would make it harder to leave her if he did... But Kagome needed them. She needed him to be on his game.. She turned to stop him, but he was already moving towards the entrance.

"Miroku! Come back, you hear me!"

The monk left the small cave they had found and glanced back once before pulling a sutra from his robes. Held between two fingers, he focused and whispered a soft chant, the paper tag stiffening before he threw it to the top of the entrance. Once there, it flared to life and a barrier flashed up before vanishing. "Stay safe, Sango.." The monk turned and walked through the heavily forested trail, picking his way slowly over the brush until he found what he was looking for. The snow melting off the mountains in the distance had run off, and over time, a small, shallow lake for lack of a better term, had formed.

Miroku paced the perimeter and nodded. It was a little on the larger side, but shallow.. There was a decent amount of vegetation, especially around the edges, but there wasn't much in the way of breathing creatures. Wading to the center, he found it only came up to about knee height, but that would work for Kagome. Adjusting his stance, the once lecher sat his staff down, embedding the base firmly in the mud. Two fingers lifted in front of his face, the rest curled as he started a low, almost melodic chant. From the base of his staff rippled rings of disturbance on the water. No visible glowing or as Kagome would once say "Fireworks" but there was the rippling of the water as it grew to lap against the edges. Small, but silent waves as his power flowed through him, to the staff, and then to the water in which he stood.

Deeming the pond 'blessed' the monk stepped from it, and with a careful look around, worked his way back towards the cave that they had been hidden in the last day. Shippo had been fortunate to find them - and to be quite honest, he was impressed with the kits fortitude. Having not only found Kagome, but led her their direction. Though he doubted that the fox was following any sort of trail.. Simply an act of Divine Providence, and for that the monk was grateful. His wife had been worried for the woman, and had stressed time and time again what would happen should the well reopen.