The first sounds that came to his ears was the sound of Kagome's voice. She appeared to be very angry, and was screaming at someone. Sesshomaru made a guess about the target of her berating as Sintomaru tried to stammer his defence.
"Of course I wasn't going to leave him there! Why would I do that?" He sounded completely false, but seemed to satisfy her. She fell quiet and went away, mumbling to herself about how uncivilized demons were. Sesshomaru resented this, and spoke up.
"Actually, I pride myself in being quite civil, even if it may seem like I'm not to your feeble human eyes." He grunted and tried to force his eyes to open, but the light burned them, and he decided to wait. Sesshomaru then tried to rise, deciding that even without his eyes, he was still a formidable enough opponent to fight, but stopped when a wave of unbearable pain tore through his body. Her froze in place, and had trouble breathing for a minute as the pain subsided.
"Sesshomaru, don't move, or you'll tear the bandages." Kagome told him with what sounded like genuine concern in her voice. He was surprised, and brushed it off as an assumption. She wouldn't care about him: he had tried to kill her on numerous occasions. But she would not understand that he was just trying to clear his way. He paused, and though to himself: Why am I trying to justify myself? I will simply thank her and be on my way.
He changed his mind when he heard Rin's happy laughter. She sounded so gleeful, something the unfeeling demon lord had been unable to produce from her. Maybe he should keep near to this priestess, for Rin's sake. She needed a suitable companion, and from his past observations, this woman, in her strange clothes, seemed able to go past the surface of things and find a deeper meaning. He almost broke down and laughed at how philosophical he was being. Finally, gritting his fangs, he rose to his feet in a stiff but graceful movement.
All three of them turned in surprise, and Kagome scowled at him. He ignored her, and looked at his larger counterpart. He had last seen his cousin perhaps seventy years ago, and he had barely changed. Sesshomaru could detect great power, hidden from plain view. He remembered when they had fought for the leadership of the Wetsern lands. He had barely won, as the match was almost equal. He had won simply by his determination.
"Well met Sesshomaru, I'm glad to see you well enough to stand." He said this with a smirk, and the demon lord moved to attack him, but grimaced in pain as he felt the ribs and lung not fully healed yet. His demonic powers would regenerate him, but it would take many days. Sintomaru, on the other hand, had the ability to heal on the spot, although it drained his energy and made him tired very quickly.
"I do recall that a certain someone lost a humiliating defeat at the hands of one such as myself, even if that one had been fighting unworthy opponents for three days straight." Sesshomaru smiled inwardly at the look that came across Sin's face. He turned to Kagome then, and spoke quietly, "thank you for the help, even if I have not been kind to you before. I am bound by my honor to repay you, and you must ask something or I am obligated to remain near you in case you think of something for me to help you with..." He broke off his speech at the thought of staying near anyone besides Rin for a long period of time.
"Actually, there is something you can help me with," Kagome said thoughtfully, " I know you want to destroy Naraku. I too wish to hurt someone that has hurt me. I wish to kill Kikyo. You must allow me to travel with you and Rin, and I will try not to slow you down as much as I can." She saw his usually empty eyes deepen with thought, which is the only emotion other than rage she had ever seen there, and took it to be a good sign. She continued, "you wouldn't have to protect me, I had been training under some preistesses before I came to help Inuyasha get the last piece of the Sacred Jewel, which Naraku now has all but one piece. They have taught me alot, and I think I can beat her." She plastered a loook of determination on her face that was solid enough for Sesshomaru to believe her.
"Very well, although I must protect you to a degree. If you die while I am honor-bound to you, then I will have dishonored myself by not helping you complete the task you have set for me." He glanced to the right, and actually smiled as he saw Rin walking towards them from the river.
She smiled and waved when she saw that he was looking at her, and started running. She threw her arms around him in a hug, which he grudgingly allowed her to do, before extracting himself from her small arms and looking at Sintomaru.
He had a hand over his mouth, stifling his laughter, and finally could hold no longer as Sesshomaru stepped towards him threateningly. His outburst made both Kagome and the smaller girl frown, but Rin was the one who spoke next.
"Lord Sessomaru, is this demon really your cousin? He is not like you at all. He's mean to me and Kagome, and he says he will eat me when you aren't looking. That was why Kagome was yelling at him, and because he wanted to leave you behind to die." She glared at him before continuing, "I told him that we were taking you no matter what, and I helped Kagome put some bandages, and she even had some strange medicine that cures infections!" She realized she was rambling and fell silent.
"Thank you Rin. Kagome will be accompanying us to kill Naraku, so now you can have a friend." He turned to Sin before speaking in a lower tone. "If you threaten Rin or Kagome again, I will rip out your throat this time, and you will suffer."
"Fine, but I don't believe that the 'Mighty Sesshomaru' is defending the humans he most hates. You certainly have changed, and not for the better." He muttered, just to cause trouble. He got what he wanted.
Sesshoamru's eyes flared red and his one fist came out, faster than thier eyes could see, but it came to an abrupt stop as Sin merely caught it in his own hand. They stood there at a standoff, until they noticed that Rin and the young miko had left.
"Watch your back, Sesshomaru!" Was all that Sintomaru would say, and he leapt away through the trees. Sesshomaru simply shrugged and sat down, resting his injury and leaning against a tree, thinking about his promise to the priestess.
The red clothed half demon cried out in pain as Kikyo pushed his bones back into place. Damn it! Who was that big guy with the mace? He was brutal, and he looked like Sesshomaru. Inuyasha tried to think of something else as his lover twisted his elbow back to the right position. The blow from the mace had been out of nowhere, and it had broken all of the bones on his right side. His elbow had been twised almost one-eighty degrees, and the bones in his forearm had been pushed apart and split out of his skin. He had not fallen unconscious, unfortunately for him as he screamed again when she started to heal his body. The purifying power could not kill him, because he was half human, but it burned like nothing he had ever felt.
Fianally, Kikyo whispered to him, a single tear falling from her creamy cheek,"There my love, I have sped the healing process along several weeks." She kissed him lightly on the lips and left him there as he began to snore, turning sometimes to adjust his injured side.
Kikyo left the cave that she had called home for almost a year now, and traversed a path through the mountains to where Naraku's new palace was. Opening the door, she strode unafraid through a small army of guards, until she came to his private chambers. The castle interior was dark, and the wood was rotting, although the castle had only been here for a few days. The poisonous miasma seemed to have that effect on everything it touched, draining the life out of every living thing. She pushed open the heavy wooden door at the end of the hall, and walked right up to Naraku.
"Naraku, I wish for the wench, Kagome, to die. She is weak, and I do not like that. Destroy her, and I shall make the jewel whole for you." She waited for his response.
"Ahhh, Kikyo, you would do such a petty thing as to have your fellow priestess removed from your way because of Inuyasha? Very well, I shall remove her then." He smiled, and spoke once more, saying, "I would appreciate the help, though. Maybe you should lead her into trap and simple kill her with your mighty bow. That would be much easier, but I will donate some assistance from my demons as well, if you think you need help. After all, she's only a girl."
His words were worded perfectly to get the response he wanted. "I guess I will kill her myself." She turned and retreated from the castle, the poisonous gases parting before her without coming into contact with her body. She returned to her cave, and sat down on the hard ground to meditate.