Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or the characters that are with it. They come from the wonderful imagination of Rumiko Takahashi. I do own Nidoriko and other characters that are not a part of that wonderful anime and manga. I am just a penniless fan fiction writer borrowing Ms. Takahashi's characters and putting them within my own twisted little world. All I own is a stick of gum and a nickel. Please don't sue. You can have the nickel though. Thank you.

Eternity's Passing: Kaede's Tale

Chapter Four: A Good Night's Stroll

As respected as she was, Kaede failed to achieve one thing. No matter how skilled or feared she was, it was nearly impossible to gain this one thing she truly wished for. This thing was a simple enough concept, why wouldn't anyone grant it? All she ever wanted was a good bit of privacy. Sure she could sleep, eat, and bathe alone. It was just when she decided that she wanted to take a small walk, someone would always volunteer themselves as escort. Surely they knew that she was able to take care of herself should there be trouble. Her skill with the bow may not rival that of her sister's, but it certainly rivaled most of the guards. The sight she had in her good eye had made up for the one she had lost. She could spot her target from a distance better than the others. Not only did she have her skill as an archer, but she also had spiritual powers that could send a demon of great strength to his knees. So why did everyone feel that she needed protecting? Even then, as she walked through the forest, Raiken was following her. Kaede had managed to frighten off Hiroshi, out wit Tanosuke, and intimidated the rest of the poor village men. Raiken was the only one who did not seem to be put off no matter what she said or did. At least he had been following her at a distance, where she did not have to see that blasted smirk on his face. What she did not know was that she would benefit from his annoyance that day.

She had been awakened early that morning to tend a child who was running a very high fever. The situation was very dire so she had been in a rush and had forgotten her bow and arrows. The child had required constant care throughout the day. It wasn't until dusk when her young patient's fever went down and she could finally take a walk to get some fresh air. The priestess had been so tired from the lack of sleep, that she had been unaware of her surroundings. Unfortunately, it had been then that she ran into a boar like demon with a grudge against priestesses. He had a massive humanoid body and huge tusks were jutting out of his mouth. In his hands was a large battle axe, the edge coated in blood recently drawn. The most frightening feature was his beady red eyes that had a flash of madness in them. Kaede had reached behind her for her trusty weapon, but realized that she did not have it with her. Using her spiritual powers, she quickly created a field in front of the demon that would last only a few heartbeats so she could at least get a good distance away. As her luck would have it, as she began to run her foot got caught in a protruding tree root and she tripped while hearing a sickening crack as she went down. She had no time to feel the pain for her spell had worn off and the demon was charging towards her at full speed. Kaede was sure that her life was over, that death was near. Closing her good eye, she prayed that her demise would be swift and painless. Suddenly she had heard a man's voice cry out and shortly after there were sounds of battle. Daring to open her eye, she had seen Raiken and the demon locked in a battle to the death. Raiken was blocking the demon's blows with a sword and was avoiding his maddened swings. The priestess could not help but watch as the demon slammed battering blows on the young man's sword. It was a wonder that the weapon did not break under the beating it had been receiving at the time. Kaede had been afraid and at the same time fascinated. Raiken had been holding up pretty well despite his labored breathing and the pained expression he had been wearing. He did not want to back down. After what seemed to be a life time to the young woman, Raiken had found the opening he was waiting for and struck the demon in the knees. Roaring in pain, the beast had fallen. Not wasting a breath, Raiken thrust the sword into the demon's head thus killing it instantly.

The forest remained silent as the two people tried to regain their wits about them. Raiken had checked to make sure the beast was indeed dead before immediately running to Kaede's side.

"Are you all right, Kaede?" he asked with a voice heavy with worry. She looked into his eyes and saw deep concern for her. Then suddenly realization had hit her, she had been only three breaths away from death. So many feelings welled up at the thought of not being there at that moment. The thought of never seeing the beast's demise, and never feeling the relief that the man before her had just saved her life had shaken her. The shock finally wore off, but she stared into his eyes after gazing back to his face. She was captivated by the unusual color that they were, but the most captivating was that there seemed to be something ageless about him. There was a spark that she had seen only in those who had ascended into old age. It was as if he had seen many years pass by.

A glimpse of red had immediately drawn her attention and she studied the man who had saved her life.

"You are injured!" She had quickly grabbed him to examine his shoulder. The demon had struck him there, leaving a large gash.

"We need to get you back to the hut immediately." she stated, forgetting all that had transpired moments ago. She had tried to stand but a sharp pain from her ankle had caused her to fall. Fortunately, Raiken was able to catch her before she could do further injury. He sat her back down and performed his own examination of the injured foot.

"Apparently, you have more need of assistance than I." he said grimly. When Kaede had tripped, her foot had caught in the uplifted tree root. It had twisted while she fell, thus causing more damage. The young warrior would not have been surprised if it had been broken. It had already begun to swell and change color. As he touched it to locate any broken bones, she had cried out in pain.

"But you are bleeding." She was trying to brush off her injury. The healer had no desire to think about having any kind of broken bones. She had a village depending on her to heal their hurts. How could she do that if she was injured herself?

"I've had much worse than this and had managed just fine. You, on the other hand, will need more care and immediately." He had quickly gathered her in his arms before she could protest and made his way back to the village. Needless to say, Kaede was not pleased. How dare he assume to know what she needed? She was the village priestess. That alone earned respect from the nobles that she had tended to in the past. Yet as she began to calm down a little, she had realized that it was a strange feeling being in his arms. She hated to admit it but it was not a bad feeling, a feeling of protection that she had never felt before. Even the pain seemed to fade away along with her consciousness.

"I need you awake, Kaede." he whispered in her ear. Her eye fluttered open and saw that they made it to the village. It was dark and most of the villagers were safely tucked away in bed, save for a few guards on patrol. When they saw Raiken with their obviously injured priestess, they were ready to act. One stern look from Kaede and they backed away. Raiken carried her inside her hut and sat her down on her futon to inspect her ankle.

"I am going to see if you broken anything. It may be very painful, please forgive me."

He had tried to be gentle in his examination, but had not kept her from crying out as a sudden shock of pain flew from her foot to knee cap. Regardless of the injury's sensitivity, he had kept on with his inspection. Sadly, it had broken in several places in her ankle. The unfortunate thing about it was that while her ankle may heal, she would never walk right on it ever again. She would have to walk on a permanent limp. He looked up at his 'patient' and saw that she had known as well. Kaede had seemed so dismayed over her injury that he wanted to make it instantly go away. Carefully, he had splinted and bandaged her ankle and had her to lie down. He found one of her herbal teas to soothe her pain and to help her rest. The priestess had wanted to argue with him and declare that she had no need of such a thing, but a sharp pain had stated otherwise. So she relented and drank her concoction. Such a look of distaste had been on her face, Raiken couldn't help but smile. Her spirit had not diminished in the least from her ordeal. There she was injured, disheveled, and dirty and none of that had taken away from her beauty. Raiken had brought her a bowl of cool water and some cloth and started to clean some of the minor scratches on her face and arms before she fell asleep. He knew that she would have rejected his assistance, but her herbal tea was making her a bit drowsy. After he had finished up with the minor injuries, he thought to have one of the women clean her up in the morning. At the moment shock had seemed to settle in, for her body had not been used to such pain. Kaede had begun to shiver slightly and he had gathered her in his arms hoping to keep her warm. The contact had soothed her somewhat and she had suddenly fallen to blissful slumber in Raiken's hold, her head resting against his chest. He couldn't help but stare in wonder at how peaceful someone could look after being attacked like that. She had never looked so peaceful than she had right then, it was cute really. It was even more so when she snuggled against him and made a small whimpering sound as she did so. It was almost hard to believe that she was the stubborn and temperamental priestess he had gotten to know over the past few days. She could be cool and aloof if she wanted to be and go to being caring and kind as she tended to villagers and their families. He saw how she treated everyone in the village as her own family, and from the stories he had heard of her past from those willing to share it, he had imagined that in a way that they were. While she could be caring and gentle, she could also fly into a temper. That was when he thought that she could not have been any prettier until now while she was sleeping peacefully in his arms. The young priestess snuggled against him once more until she was comfortable on his shoulder and muttered a small sigh.

"Rai..." He had heard her say against his ear and he smiled. Pretty? Hell, she was beautiful.

Note: Sorry for the lame ending. Thanks for your wonderful reviews though few they are. Don't worry, I'll keep writing regardless of review count. I'll just make the darn thing longer and slower to update until I get a desired amount. Laughs evilly Not really, but it is an idea. Anyway I was gonna make this as long as my other chapters, but I thought that the ending was cute and thought to leave it there. Don't worry, more fluff in the next chapter... well maybe a bit limey more than fluffy. I'll just make it a moldy lime... those are fuzzy. It will be my first lime though, so it may not be so limey... BAH! Just read the next chapter to find out, okay? Great, thanks so much for reading this. Please review, it makes a fanfic author's day. I'll even take complaints as long as they are polite and not profane or unfounded. Thanks again. Jul-chan