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Strangled Time

Chapter 24

"Toss me th' powder pills?" Saburo grumbled, wincing in the day's light as he lay sprawled out on his back like a limp starfish.

"These?" Togashimaru asked with an uncharacteristic sweetness and a smile, picking the plastic bottle of Tums up from the top of Kagome's bag. He ran a claw along the seam.

The blacksmith raised his arms to the sky when the demon gave it a light underhand. The lid popped off as soon as it touched his open palm. Startled, Saburo fumbled the bottle, sending little pastel disks scattering about everywhere around him.

"You son of a—"

"How?" Kagome took that exact moment to step back into camp, freshly dressed. Since it was the mega sized bottle the mess was impressive, like the ground had suddenly been decorated in giant sprinkles. Her healing voice squeaked when she exclaimed, "I was gone for less than a minute!"

"The fault is mine." Togashimaru said, believably repentant. "I had assumed the lid to be secure."

"Nah, Miss Kagome." Grumbled Saburo. "I dropped it. 'm sorry." He found a tablet beside his ear, blew off the flecks of dirt, and placed it lethargically on his tongue before closing his eyes and feeling around for another.

With a tired, patient sigh, Kagome walked over and picked up the empty bottle. "Be more careful next time, okay? I don't have access to more of these when we run out."

That was all it took to light a little tea light of guilt inside the demon Lord.

Togashimaru pushed away from his tree to help with the mess he'd provoked. He and Kagome scoured the campsite on hands and knees, picking up the tablets one by one. He wasn't able to look her full in the eyes until after they found every last one of them and the container was once more full. Even then he could only spare a sheepish glance to prevent himself from answering her kindness with a full confession of his prankery.

What a strange spell it was he'd found himself under.

Next time he decided to throw something at that two-faced human male, he would make sure that it was not a possession of Kagome's.

…

"Think we're ready to go?"

"No." Came the bellowed groan from Saburo at the same time Togashimaru replied "Yes."

Sighing, Kagome missed the look that was shared between the men as she watched the rolling clouds gathering in the sky above. They were the sort of clouds that looked voluptuous and thick like sticky clumps of cotton candy, if only they were pink instead of that pale grey. They'd been a good reminder that the weather was not exactly going to be on their side for that journey. Better to get moving than to stay.

Sick or not, they still had quite a bit of ground to cover until the made it to Chichibu.

With a little help from Kagome's outstretched hand, Saburo was dragged to his wobbly feet. In an odd twist of roles, the lumbering blacksmith found himself being strung from her little frame to the demon who'd been the one most in need of support days prior. The priestess knew that he would have preferred to walk out of there on his own two feet—he was a capable grown man with a pride, after all. However, the priestess also knew that he was terribly dehydrated and too disorientated to really protest, so she ignored his pride and pulled him along closely.

It was a bit of a crooked setup, and their pace was slow, but the three of them managed forward.

All they needed was a little pet mascot to frolic along the path, Kagome thought to herself as they once more found the main trail to follow alongside. The road was painted in the dead yellow leaves of late fall and she couldn't help but feel like Dorothy and her Tin Man with a straw-legged Scarecrow hanging between them.

"I'm not feelin' so great." Their third wheel warbled after hooking his foot on a log and nearly sending their chain lurching to the ground. Poor little bull almost whimpered. "We should head back. Leave when it's sunnier?"

On second thought, no, Saburo wasn't the rambunctious Scarecrow in his food poisoned stupor; far separated from the luxuries he was accustomed. He was most certainly the Cowardly Lion. And no, Kagome wasn't ready to hold auditions for a fourth party member. Two men were trouble enough to keep tabs on. They were going to put themselves on the endangered species list if they kept trying to go above and beyond their very limited call of duty.

It was up to her to keep things from falling apart.

She had her work cut out for her.

"Oh put a sock in it." Kagome snapped when she finally got fed up with Saburo's overdramatized agony less than an hour into their hike, once he began to complain about his feet. Her normally stellar bedside manner was quick to sour when her patient was the type to bitch and moan, not unlike Inuyasha. "You're not dying."

On the other side of Saburo, Togashimaru let loose a bellowing laugh. He needed to lean over his walking stick to prevent a tear in his stitches. That put a temporary halt to their movement.

"Dare I ask if we could use my sock?" He suggested when the pain in his rib subsided enough to allow him to speak.

At that he was met with the cold glare of a red-faced priestess as she tried her damndest not to giggle.

Togashimaru grinned.

Between the two, the blacksmith was quick to sober. A gulp stilled his tongue. He was on his best behavior for the rest of the trip to further avoid any and all future threat of socks.

…

Half frozen spring water runoff trickled down huge, moss covered boulders. Folding his large hands to gather it like a cup, Togashimaru used the liquid to cleanse the clear stitches at his side. He had to grit his teeth against the cold bite of it. It rinsed away pink with flakes of black dried blood.

They'd stopped when it grew too dark for the humans to see well the path that lay before them. Kagome perhaps could have seen enough to keep trekking forward, but that human male of hers had become a fumbling nuisance. More so that he'd already been. The wood was too dense for a fire, and their camp was tight, but its proximity to water made it favorable. Togashimaru had taken the first opportunity to steal away to clean and check his damages as soon as drinking water had been satisfied.

It had progressed since the last time he checked; the purple stain of the dragon's poison spread all the way from his hip to the lower two of his ribs. It had nearly taken hold over the dingy yellow bruise from his fractured bone. The sight of it alone was enough to make him cringe, which was significant considering just how many times he'd been nearly disemboweled in the past without batting an eye—the smell was another matter entirely to his sensitive nose.

The reek of death was sure to draw predators larger than crows if left uncovered too long.

Twisting in a way that made his stitches pull, the demon checked the smooth stripe that curved from his groin, over his hip bone, and around his leg like a vine. Its normally purple pallor had turned black and sooty in the areas that touched the infection. The black marking was hot to the touch, similar to that of the human priestess' fever. It was quite sore.

Remarkably, though, Togashimaru was beginning to feel the barest hints of strength returning to him. No longer did he feel as though he were going to fall to the ground, a cripple to lethargy. That cane of his had become less a dire necessity and more a sturdy reassurance.

Kagome had been correct. Those little pills of hers truly did dull pains and revive the senses like a work of white magic. Curious things they were, that medicine from the future.

It was an unfortunate thing that they only existed to disguise the truth.

After finishing his inspection, Togashimaru unrolled the knotted strips of cloth that had been one of Kagome's old yukatas before that trip, and began to wrap up his side once more. It took all of what they could salvage from the garment to cover the extent of the blemish and protect it from the air.

Whatever good it would do him.

…

"Well aren't you lookin' chipper." Saburo said when the demon returned to their paltry new campsite. He didn't seem to move his arm from where it lay over his eyes, blocking out the horrible atrocity that was the morning sun. It appeared that the large human was beginning to regain some of his complexion as well as his acerbity.

He reeked of embarrassment and likely regretted every word he'd spoken under the duress of sickness.

"For a hungry ghost, I suppose that I am."

There was a pause.

"That bad, huh?"

Togashimaru didn't respond. Instead silently he walked over to Kagome's backpack to return the towel he'd borrowed from it. Luckily, since the plush cloth was pink it hid diluted bloodstains fairly well. He briefly wondered if that had been intent behind the color all along.

"Does Miss Kagome know?" Saburo spoke again, not allowing the General to grow too comfortable in silence.

"Where is our resident priestess?" Togashimaru asked.

The blacksmith's lips pursed as if he could smell the unspoken deceit on the air. As much as he wanted to comment on it, he was far too tired for another fight. "She said she was goin' out ta scout about ahead. Wanted you to know she brought that dinky little huntin' knife with her, in case you were lookin' fer it." He sighed. "I couldn't stop her. We really outta get that bow of hers fixed."

There was no fixing that bow, they all knew it. Even if it hadn't been shattered to splinters when it was cracked in half, repairing a bow with even a single, clean split was asking for trouble. Repairs made the shaft weak and prone to future damage. Even the draw of the string could cause enough pressure to snap it to bits in her hands. What she needed was an entirely new bow, yet she still dragged the husk of the dead one with them as if it could be brought back to life with positive thoughts and pixie dust.

Considering it was one of the first things she had acquired in that time period, Togashimaru figured the young woman felt exposed and naked without one at her side, broken or otherwise. Much the same way he felt without his swords. Unconsciously, the dog demon's hand brushed along the wrappings of the unfinished blades that were sticking out of the main flap of Kagome's bag.

They'd get to that at a better time.

"How long ago?"

"I don't know fer sure." Saburo replied, his tone flat. "Let me count the ticks on my incense sticks for ya."

Silently Togashimaru began to walk away, unstirred by the sarcasm.

Again without looking from beneath his arm, Saburo called to him. "You know she don't want ya followin' her."

That didn't stop him. Grip firm on his staff, Togashimaru took advantage of his newfound strength and tracked the little human's scent into the thick of the forest.

…

The bush brambles were dense and scratchy as Togashimaru pushed his way through to where Kagome was kneeling at the edge of a ridgeline. Silently cursing his bulky frame, the demon settled down beside her as gently and gracefully as he could manage given the conditions. It was no formal court, but still he presided tall, back straight and hands on knees, without a tree to frump about on. She didn't need to look at him to acknowledge his presence.

"There's a village down there." The priestess said once he was situated, eyes fixed on the chimney smoke rising from the collection of huts just down the mountain path below them. The size of the town was questionable, but its position on the main road guaranteed the passage of travelers to be common. They no doubt relied on the commerce of migrant merchants.

"So there is."

"They'll have something to eat." She added.

"Most villages do." He said with a thoughtful nod.

"They'll probably have a bow."

"I would assume there to be a hunter among them."

"They'll have a wrap for your sword hilt?"

"The least of my concerns."

"Definitely bandages."

"Their supply does perhaps need replenishment."

"They'll…" She hesitated, peering at him from the corner of her eye. "…have an inn?"

Quietly, Togashimaru looked at her when he caught a scent. He then looked back away when he found himself unsettled by the dew welling in her blue eyes. It wasn't that she was crying from sadness; illness and hunger had simply driven her to the edge by sheer discomfort. Her pain made his chest feel constricted.

"If you require shelter, I will not be the one to force you to sleep on the ground within a sack. You know this." He reassured her, dropping his words low and gentle.

She shook her head and stared back out to the promise of warmth below. "Not just for me. For all of us."

"All of us?" He repeated, not quite sure he had heard her correctly.

"Yeah. A real roof over our heads would seriously help us out right about now. You need a good night's rest and a full meal just as bad as I do."

He frowned. "I can sustain myself in the forests while you take time to recuperate. Once you have finished, you may retrieve me and we will be on our way."

There was an obvious rolling of eyes with the huff she let out at that. "Dogs." She chuckled under her breath to the wind as if she was sharing with it an inside joke. Then she spoke up. "It's going to snow tonight, Toga. I wouldn't leave you alone in the woods to begin with, but if you think I'm going to leave you out in that, you're crazy."

He accepted the girl and her bold declarations most times, but this time he was truly baffled. He moved his body to face her with one part curiosity, two parts skepticism. "Do you honestly believe that this human inn would accept one such as myself as a patron? Experience has not been my ally in the matter; the desire I hold to protect humanity from unjust harm runs quite single sided."

Kagome turned back to look at him. She studied him slowly, tracing the tips of his ears down to the points of his noble markings, following the silver paint stroke of hair from his temple down the length of his ponytail. Some of the strands of his hair had gotten caught up on the branches like the spun silk of a sparkling spider's web.

"Yup." She said, abruptly cutting off her study. "They'll let you in."

It didn't sound at all convincing.

He raised an eyebrow and all she could do was smile in return. She looked far more chipper in that moment than he felt she ought to in her condition.

"We'll figure something out." She promised.

End Chapter