Chapter 7: Inuyasha's Day

Inuyasha bounded from tree to tree, now leaf-less and dead in the winter as his canine nose picked up the scent of blood of the wounded dragon. It was close…it couldn't have gotten far with those wounds.

Sure enough he soon saw crimson pools of fresh blood spread upon the white snow and caught the stench of demons along with the dragon's, causing him recoil in disgust as he forced himself to run even faster. He didn't know why Naraku's demons were chasing the dragon but even if it wasn't for a jewel shard or two, Inuyasha wanted to get to it first! Inuyasha grinned wickedly as his claws twitched in anticipation. Nothing like denying Naraku the object of his desire to brighten up his day!

A cold raindrop fell on his nose, utterly grasping his attention as the half frozen drop splattered across his face. Curious, he held a hand out, watching the drops start to pool in his palm as he noticed dark clouds rolling in, blanketing the land in shadow and filling air with the clash of thunder and quick flashes of lightning.

Strange… it was sunny a few moments ago. That could only mean a there was a strong demonic force at work. Inuyasha groaned. He could hardly wait.

The rain shortly began to fall down in thick sheets, creating a mist that hampered his sense of smell and made it even more difficult to continue hurdling himself from limp to limp for the branches were now slick with ice. The rain drops were frosty; almost snow as they fell on his head and drenched his clothes. He shivered as the wind suddenly picked up and drove the wet flurry into his face, sucking all warmth from his body. It was chilly before but now it was freezing.

Great, just great; add half-melted snow storm to his list of "Things in Nature That Just Pissed Him Off", right above rain storms but below blizzards and undead miko women.

It was weird though; it was cold enough this time of year to easily turn the frozen rain into snow. It was as if whoever was creating the storm wanted to make their victims freeze from being wet and cold. This was definitely a sign that someone was manipulating the weather.

He glanced to look at the humans and Shippo, who were trying to keep up with him on Kirara. They were shivering and wet; the ends of their clothes and hair were quickly freezing as they huddled closer together to keep warm, Sango holding Shippo in her lap while Miroku embraced her from behind to shield them from the onslaught of bad weather. This was probably one of the only instances Sango didn't slap Miroku for wrapping his arms around her. If it stays like this much longer, they'll catch…what was Kagome's term for it? Hypothermia? Well anyway, they needed shelter and fast…and since he knew this area from his childhood, about 150 years or so ago, he knew just where they could find it too.

He slowed his pace until it matched Kirara's as she bravely battled the wind and snow without much success. Inuyasha had to shout three times to be heard over the howling wind: "KIRARA! THERE IS A CAVE NOT TO FAR FROM HERE TO THE WEST! GET THEM TO SHELTER!"

Kirara nodded and changed direction before the others could protest, which he was sure they would do if they had the opportunity. The cave he had sent them to was even deeper in the Western Lands; Sesshomaru would not be happy with that at all. Not that Inuyasha really gave a flying fuck what Sesshomaru thought. They were heading closer to the heart of the area anyway; to the castle itself. Inuyasha was at least going to make an attempt to rescue Kagome…he didn't want to give the Tetsusaiga up unless he absolutely, positively had to.

Inuyasha continued to follow the trail, plowing through the rain and opposing wind until he lost the scent, due to the weather and his numb nose. By then it really didn't matter for everywhere he looked, he saw blood and the bodies of what must be a good third of Naraku's horde, lying frozen and half buried in the snow, as if they had died of the frost before they had even reached their destination.

Inuyasha snorted before he spat at the corpses. Lesser demons were so pathetic. They weren't even worth keeping unless you had them in infinite numbers like Naraku. Only in packs were they a pain in the ass.

The trees ended in a clearing backed up against a cliff and he could make the backs of most the youkai that had gathered around something in a semi circle. Though he was unable to peer over the bulk of the horde, he could only guess what they were surrounding.

Apparently they found the dragon

He dashed up a huge tree and jumped unseen to the top of the snowy peak of the cliff, peeking over the ledge so he could spy without being noticed. He could now see Kohaku: the boy was standing before the group of youkai in front of a kneeling figure that looked human not dragon, hunched over in pain as its blood spilled from an open wound in its back, obviously from an arrow. Kohaku appeared to be talking and Inuyasha had to strain his ears to hear over the roaring wind and deafening thunder claps:

"…Naraku doesn't want us to kill you for he believes you will be a great asset to him…and only we have the antidote to the poison." Kohaku finished in his usual possessed monotone as he stretched a hand forward, palm up as if expecting to receive something. "Give us the jewel shards and we'll spare you."

Inuyasha growled. He knew it. They had been after jewel shards. Well this sucked ass. If he tried to attack them, he wouldn't be able to guarantee a smooth get away because there were so many youkai and he couldn't use the Wind Scar for fear of harming Kohaku. Sango would not be too pleased if he accidentally killed her younger brother. It wasn't his fault he was doing all this anyway; he was being manipulated by Naraku after all. Inuyasha's best chance was to prevent getting involved in a battle, something he was not good at figuring out how to do. Maybe if the figure would reveal where they had hidden the jewel shards, he could sweep in and snatch them before they surrendered them to Kohaku, avoiding a fight. He tensed, ready do just that if the figure gave the shards up…

To his surprise, the figure raised its head, spitting in Kohaku's face. The possessed boy didn't even flinch as the drop of spit slithered down his cheek as the rain washed over it. "Over my dead body!" the figure hissed, weakly standing up and taking a defensive stance. Inuyasha sighed in annoyance. Why couldn't things just go the way he wanted them to? It would have been so much easier just to steal them! Now this just made things more complicated.

Kohaku was silent, a long pause separating the combatants before he spoke again. "Fine. Have it your way." He reached to grab the Kusari Gama that was strapped to his back, the curved blade of demon bone glittering evilly as he began to spin the weapon in a circle with the long silver chain that was connected to the handle.

The figure hardly seemed intimidated, using their right hand to beckon them to attack. "Come…Omae O Korosu (I'll kill you)." The human sounded completely sure of their abilities, though Inuyasha highly doubted that they were at home in their situation. He sure as hell wouldn't be if he was wounded and facing hundreds of youkai of all types, all out for his blood. It was unnerving to any lone warrior.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, struggling to catch a clear glimpse of the fighter in question before they were hacked to bits. He cursed when he realized that he'd have to get closer to get a good look, thanks to the damnable rain and wind. So much for keeping well out of sight and waiting for a window of opportunity; today really just wasn't his day.

The demons attacked, swarming the figure and making it extremely difficult to observe what was going on. Inuyasha waited a moment, making sure that all the youkai and Kohaku were distracted before he dropped into the trees around the clearing below the cliff. He landed on a thick branch of an old oak, pausing for a moment to ensure that he had not been detected before peeking a head over the brush to figure out who was winning. He would wait until he found out who won and then he'll just simply slay the winner, who would be expended after the skirmish. He was getting those shards no matter what!

Now he had a perfect view of the battle…and couldn't believe what he saw!

There was a NAKED human girl fighting all the demons! Miroku would have died of the cold to see this! He thought, trying not to gawk as she slugged one ogre demon, stealing its tetsubo and using the spiked club to bash the vile thing's head like a melon before kicking snake youkai in the snout to her right, stunning it long enough to club it as well. Black youkai blood splattered on her tan skin, mixing with rain and mud as her own crimson blood flowed from the new, shallow gashes she was receiving from demon claws and teeth. He couldn't really make out her facial features because she was completely covered in grim, but he could see her toned muscles flex as her long legs accurately kicked every demon that came in range, her long hair tangled in knots with stray twigs and muck that wetly slapped her back with her every movement.

He examined her movements with nothing short of awe. Whoever this woman was, she was a damn good fighter. It seemed that she had been trained since she was young for her moments were like second nature, executed with quick, fluid motions: hack, block, bash, kick, punch; her style more like an art form than anything else. It was as if she were merely dancing to the beat of the drum of war as she struck down the lesser youkai with ease while gracefully flittering through the throng, slowly plowing her way toward Kohaku, who stood near the back of the army waiting for her to approach.

She barely spoke as she forced herself forward, not even grunting when her weapon was caught in a demon's chest and she unable to wretch it back. She simply slaughtered the next attacker, robbing him of his Nageyari, the short spear seeming only natural in her grip as she used it to impale yet another demon. Inuyasha was beginning to get the impression that he could hand her any weapon and she would be able to wield it, no matter what it was.

He caught a whiff of a faint fragrance of lavenders buried underneath the stench of blood and gore, enhanced with a vague aroma of magic but soiled with the unpleasant odor that smelled like a fusion of Naraku's miasma and an herb that Inuyasha couldn't identify. Whatever the concoction was, it was turning the flesh around the arrow wound in her back a noticeably unhealthy purple color, so deep it was almost black. Inuyasha's own back tingled when he saw flashes of it when she whipped around quickly to block enemy blows, as if his body were anxious that it may be him with such an injury. It was unreal that she was even standing much less aggressively defending herself. Almost as if she had the energy of a youkai…

Well now that was a puzzle. She smelled similar to a human, looked like a human but fought like a demon, killing more youkai then he cared to count. All he knew was that she had killed more than any regular human would have ever hoped to slay especially injured. Miroku and Sango might have been able to do it, but that was only because he had his sutras and Kazanna (Wind tunnel) and she had been trained from infancy to hunt youkai but he had a feeling even they would have had trouble lasting this long with the combination of poison and loss of blood. What exactly was she? Why was she even here? What happened to the dragon he had assumed to find and possibly battle?

As Inuyasha continued to observe the tide of battle, he noticed that it was shifting to the youkai's favor as they bore down on her, claws slashing at her wildly with their fangs bared. Like he said, lesser youkai were a pain in the ass to kill when in large numbers, even for him. Inuyasha heard her utter the first sound that he had witnessed since she had begun her futile attempt to destroy the mass of youkai; she cried out in pain as a bear demon sliced into her torso, leaving five scarlet claw marks going from her left shoulder and between her breasts to end at the bottom of her right rib cage. Inuyasha winced as her screech of anguish pierced his ears, making him cover them to bar out the noise. He…he just couldn't stand the sound of a woman screaming…it reminded him too much of his mother.

She had screeched like that the day Inuyasha was born…he wasn't sure how he remembered but her voice haunted his dreams since he was little. When he asked her about it, she had told him that someone had murdered her, stabbing her with a yari, its double-edged blade of the spear tearing her flesh as she cried out in pain and fear. She had been dead when Inuyasha was brought into this world but his father had used the Tenseiga to revive her before meeting his own untimely demise, executing her killer. Ever since then, he had not been able to handle hearing a woman scream, his human emotions demanding that he intervene. However he didn't know anything about this human; she could try to butcher him the moment he attempted to aid her, not to mention it would make him Kohaku's next target. This was one fight he really didn't want to interfere with if he could help it.

Kagome would disown me if she knew I was watching a human fight a losing battle and not helping…he thought, the notion bring a grin to his face. He could hear her now: "INUYASHA! GET OUT YOUR LAZY ASS OUT THERE RIGHT NOW AND RESCUE HER THIS INSTANT!" Man he really missed her; she would have figured out a way to save the girl without endangering himself, the person he was trying to salvage or Kohaku. She could even tell him what the girl was, if she was friend or foe, and where the shards were so he could steal them!

Inuyasha was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he hadn't notice that the woman had stopped screeching a long time ago and was now feebly kneeling on the ground as she tried to cover the blood flow from her new wound with an arm, biting her lower lip to help distract her from the pain as she used her bloody spear to support her weight. Inuyasha could smell the stench of salt coming from her scent; the woman was actually crying! Inuyasha's second weakness! He couldn't stand seeing a woman cry! Now his human side was really demanding that he should help!

"You won't last long now." Kohaku said monotonously, eyes void of any emotion or life as he stared down at her. Inuyasha's spine quivered; seeing eyes like that was always unnerving!

The girl loudly cursed as the demons assaulted her, trying to rip her to pieces as they grabbed at her flesh, searching for the shards they knew she possessed. She grunted as she tried to throw them off her but not succeeding. Inuyasha smelled the scent of lavender and magic grow stronger as she started to glow a purple color, the violet aura pulsing with unreleased energy. She looked in his direction and Inuyasha saw that her eyes too were purple, giving him a long look that was a mixture of sorrow and rage, making him cringe; she knew he was there! When she was sure she had his attention, she jerked her head to her right slightly, indicating that he look in the direction of the cliff. At first he didn't see anything but when he squinted his eyes to get a better look through the wind and rain, he saw that there was a little hallow on the cliff face, just big enough for him to squeeze in if he could jump up to it. He raised an eyebrow in confusion but when he turned his concentration back to the girl, she was no longer paying him any mind as her aura started to spark with little flickers of electricity while she kept a fixed stare on Kohaku.

"See you bastards in hell!" she murmured, the nearest youkai releasing their hold on her, wailing in anguish as they revealed scalded flesh still smoldering, as if she were on fire. Just then his senses practically screamed danger; he jumped into the air in the same instant that she bellowed:

"BLADES OF THUNDER!" Lightning branched off of her form, snaking its way in the air and on the earth in random directions as the water made it easy to travel to the youkai. Inuyasha used his left hand to grasp the edge of the hallow in the side of the cliff that he had observed earlier, grunting as his arm nearly popped out socket with his downward momentum and weight. He hauled up his other hand so it was level with the ledge and clasped on, readjusting his grip before using his legs to propel off the rough earth surface and into the little space. It really was small, more like a crack than anything else but he was able to sit in it, granted he kept his head bowed.

When he peered out of his new hiding space, he saw that most of the demons had been electrocuted, either lying in the snow, still smoking, or twitching uselessly on the ground. Even most the trees had been burned to a crisp, the one had had been in all but collapsing into a pile of char and ash, making Inuyasha silently thankful he managed to bail before the onslaught. He covered his nose as the stench of scorched fleshed reached it, almost feeling sorry for the poor beasts.

Almost.

The rest, however, had been flying youkai and had taken to the sky as he had, avoiding most of the shock. To his relief, Kohaku had been able to mount a large centipede with bat-like wings before the lightning could affect him and was now hovering in the air with whatever was left of his depleted army at his back, watching the limp body of the girl lying on the ground warily, cautious of another trap she may yet have to set.

Inuyasha too glanced down at the figure lying face up in the snow: she was completely motionless except for the shallow rising of her chest, that being the only sign that she hadn't crossed over into death yet. Her eyes looked up blankly at the sky, void of any life of emotion but all consuming pain and weakness as Inuyasha heart twisted a little. She seemed to be staring at him, her eyes boring mercilessly into his soul as if she knew he could help but wouldn't, causing guilt to rise in his stomach like bile.

He had witnessed countless humans die; he had seen the light begin to flicker from their eyes like he was now doing. He had seen his mother's soul leave her old, withered body as he clasped her hand tight, as if he could hang on to it long enough, he could prevent her ascension into the afterlife. There had been wars he was forced to watch, bodies he made himself bury and despite all the humans he had saved, he couldn't help but feel he had seen more breathe their last breath or feel the bad end of his claws when his demonic blood overpowered him. His teeth ground as his fists clenched the ledge he was leaning on, breaking it into rumble. He couldn't prevent his mother's death or the deaths of all those other mortals, especially the ones that perished thanks to him, but he could help this one. She had warned him of her own attack after all. Didn't he owe her something?

Suddenly the solution hit him in the face. He could just do what Miroku had done when he was stealing the jewel shard from Kagome when they first met: he'll simply take the girl, shards and all. He'll just seize her and run away; she had killed so many of the demons now that Kohaku would have trouble pursuing them and if he did, Inuyasha could strike most of them with his Sankontessou (Iron Reaver Soul Stealer). He supposed he could even do a Kazu no Kizu (Wind Scar) as long as he was positive Kohaku could avoid it for a distraction as he snatched her and took off, confident that his speed could outdistance them effortlessly as they took time to recover from the explosion, allowing him more than enough time to find a new hideaway. Even if the girl did try to fight him, she was so weak now that she wouldn't be able to do much damage and besides, why would she signal to the hallow he was currently residing in if she wanted to kill him?

It sounded like a good plan, but he won't know for sure unless he put it into action.

Katana stared up at the cloudy sky, her mind going wild with something to distract her from her anguish as her muscles twitched with the poison that was eating away at her inners. The cold only numbed her partly though she felt that if this was the dulled version of her pain then she would hardly fancy having the full dose. She was barely conscious, grasping onto random thoughts to keep her from passing out completely, knowing full well that if that happened, Kohaku would so no restraint in hauling her back to the Eastern Lands where he now ruled.

Katana knew that this servant of Naraku's had no real intention of butchering her like he claimed: he only gave her enough poison and wounds so that she would only be weakened, becoming manageable enough to be obedient. That bastard Naraku wanted her alive…he needed her alive if he wanted to follow through with his plan. And now that she had seen Inuyasha, who was his number one enemy, she desired nothing more than to die, to end this heinous plot of Naraku's and spare the hanyou the burden of her mission.

She knew Inuyasha; there was hardly any of her family who didn't know who he was. He was the bastard son of the deceased Taiyoukai of the Western Lands after all and was constantly hunting down the shards of the Shikon no Tama. He looked just like his father with his silver hair and golden eyes. She could even see him now as he stared down at her, almost deciding if he should take some sort of action to save her from her demise.

If he knew the truth, he would let her perish. If he could even grasp what was going to happen to him if she lived, he would smite her himself with his fang sword. She wished he would. She prayed he would.

"That took the last of your magic didn't it?" the possessed boy asked, after a long moment as if to ensure that she was indeed alert enough to comprehend what he was saying to her. She didn't answer; not that she could. It was as if her jaws muscles were clamped shut, fighting her every movement as she tried to pry them open to mumble some sort of response. In fact, every one of her muscles seemed to be seizing up, twisting into knots that were slowly paralyzing her, making it hard to even breathe.

The boy began speaking again. "And now the poison is eating your insides. You'll be dead before long. Give us the jewel shards and we'll heal you."

Katana glared at him, letting all the antipathy she felt for his master flow into her mouth muscles, slowly forcing them to move little by little. "I would rather burn in Hell than serve the bastard that killed my family!" she growled through clenched teeth.

Kohaku shook his head in mock pity. "That foolish pride is what is going to kill you." He pointed and the rest of the demons, the flying ones who avoided the lightning attack, flew down to devour her, diving with their mouths wide as if anticipating the taste of her flesh, though she knew better. She braced herself…

"Kazu no Kizu!" Inuyasha cried as he jumped out of his hiding place and swung his sword. Powerful light came off it in a devouring wave, killing everything it touched; the diving demons didn't have enough time to turn around and ran right into the wave, their flesh being torn apart. Kohaku thankfully flew up to avoid the wave, pausing a moment before making a hasty retreat with the slaughter of his army and the appearance of Inuyasha. Behind his back he threw a bomb that was headed right in between them in a feeble attempt to kill them both.

Inuyasha threw himself on the girl just as the bomb hit the frozen ground to protect her from the explosion. He felt them sink into the snow as the fire flew over his back, burning the ends of his hair and ears but was mostly protected by his fire rat kimono. He felt her hands tightly grip the front of his shirt as the fire whipped around them, her hair becoming burned as well while she was muttering something that he couldn't make out through the roar of the fire.

In a moment the explosion was gone, disappearing as fast as it had come. Nothing remained of it but a few random fires burning the fallen corpses of the demons. Surprised he noticed that the freezing thunderstorm seemed to have vanished completely, as if Kohaku's retreat was the sign that it should cease though it was still cloudy. He felt the girl become limp underneath him and her breathing became almost silent as he sat up off of her and checked her pulse. Weak but it was there. He idly looked back at the retreating figures disappearing into the night sky, perplexed at the turn of events.

Ok. That was easier than he had thought. He had expected to have to haul the girl while trying to outrun Kohaku through the woods but this works too. He turned his attention to the girl as she began to regain consciousness, sure that she felt absolute pain from the way her muscles twitched uncontrollably and not the shivers of cold.

"If you plan to kill me, do it now…" She whispered in a horse voice. It sounded hallow and husky as if she were weak and in anguish. He also caught a tone of… desperation? Did she really want him to kill her?

Her breath became shallow as she lost consciousness again; making almost invisible clouds in the cold while his own came in a thick fog. Her chest barely rose and fell as the cold wind danced across it, sending shivers under her tan skin. He looked down at his red kimono and saw blood on it. Her blood. She was lying in a pool of it, the red liquid staining the snow.

He ran a finger in the pool and put it into his mouth, tasting it.

Her blood was…he didn't know how to describe it. He still couldn't tell what she was: whether she was human, youkai or hanyou but it was sweet, almost like mild honey with the slight metallic taste so associated with blood of all kinds.

Tastes good… he thought and his demon side hungered for more, wanting to put more of the crimson liquid into his mouth, but he resisted. It was getting harder and harder to do so lately; it was as if his demon side was restless, begging to be released from its prison, even when he was holding the hilt of the Tetsusaiga. Just one more reason he didn't want to surrender it to Sesshomaru: if it was this difficult to restrain his demon side now with the Tetsusaiga, he could only imagine what it would be like without the Tetsusaiga and with Kagome around…

He smelt her, the incense of lavenders invading his nose and he saw that it must be coming from the necklace around her neck, the only thing that seemed to be present on her body. He reached down, pulling it closer to him and saw that the incense bottle was surrounded with little gold dragons entwining around each other, probably used to cover up any scent she had that could tell what she was, even though he was pretty sure it was the human at this point.

If she was true youkai, she would have been able to kill all of the lesser youkai easily but she didn't seem to have any of the more common hanyou traits either like claws and such. He wondered how a human could possess so much magical power. She was even stronger than Kagome, even though she hadn't reached her full miko power strength yet. This girl didn't LOOK like a miko nor did she have the same feel that Kagome or Kikyo had when he was around them. Just because he was half, it didn't mean he didn't feel the purification powers when they used them. He did feel as though he had met her before which was weird because he was sure he had never seen her in his entire life. He did even know what she was much less who she was!

He pulled off his haori and put it around her limp body, wrapping it the best he could while his hands occasionally caressed her bare skin which was as cold as ice. His touch seemed to rouse her once again because she started to groan and squirm in the snow like Kagome did when he woke her up early in the morning. Kagome was an awful morning person.

He gently leaned down, sliding his arms around her body with one arm around her shoulders and the other behind her knees, picking her up bridal style as she gave an involuntary cry of pain when her body tensed in his grasp.

"What are you doing!" she hissed through the pain. She wanted to scream at him to let her go… that she only brings death and wasn't worth saving but she couldn't: the poison had its hold on her again, her anguish was as if acid were slowly eating away at her body underneath her skin as her muscles stiffened to take the abuse.

Inuyasha didn't even glance down as he responded, "Saving your ass…" He then started to walk carefully, trying not to jar her and cause her even more pain as he wove his way through the dead woods. His golden eyes searched the woods carefully, hoping there were no demons around otherwise they would become attracted to the smell of her blood dropping in the snow, now that the rain that could have sniffled its scent was gone. If they attacked, it would be even harder to save her now that he was carrying her like this.

"Where are you taking me!" she demanded weakly through gritted teeth once again, the muscles in her jaw involuntarily clenching so hard that they were being to burn with the strain. She had to get away from him! Naraku would come after her sooner or later and he would kill him! She couldn't stand being responsible for any more deaths. She tensed for a struggle, ignoring the protest of her body, who wanted nothing more than to surrender to his safe embrace and let him take care of it.

He glared at her in annoyance but kept walking, not thinking her able to do anything rash at this point. She probably thought he was going to rape her or something. He would have to answer her questions.

"You are poisoned and losing a lot of blood. I'm taking you to my friends so they can treat you." He responded, not looking down at her, not wanting to see her reaction. He gave her an answer didn't he?

She paled. Friends! He had friends! Friends equaled bigger death count in her mind. She glared at him as desperation sparked in her soul. "I don't need your help!" She spat out, trying to sound as hateful as she could. Didn't he realize that she didn't want to go with him? She was trying to save him! To save him, she needed to die or at least not with him!

She coughed and her body convulsed as a wave of pain shot through her, forcing her to unintentionally tighten her grip on him; her long nails digging into his skin through his undershirt as her breath came in short, labored gasps, more like hisses through clenched teeth. Inuyasha almost dropped her but caught himself as her nails began to draw blood as they tore into his shoulder muscles as her eyes began to turn white, turning her into what looked like some tortured undead corpse.

He shivered. Creepy.

Finally the pain subsided, letting her relax as she momentarily accepted defeat and allowed him to carry her slowly through the icy trees for while before speaking again.

"What do you want from me?" she demanded weakly, even more so than before. Her voice was now a mere horse whisper into the winter air.

He ignored her question. Well it looks like she didn't trust many people and as much as he could respect her position he was very tempted to tell her to shut the fuck up!

Katana was in the middle of thinking he had rocks for brains, taking a dangerous person into his group's company but then she comprehended what his other intentions were: he wanted the jewel shards she had! As much as she would like to leave, he wouldn't let her go unless he had the jewel shards and if she was to live in some fashion or another, she needed them to protect her from Naraku! She couldn't hand them over! There were too many things at stake for those shards!

"Well if it's the jewel shards you want then you can't have them!" She cried as she punched him in the face as hard as she could, her strength being fuelled by fear and desperation alone. Inuyasha was taken by surprise at A) the fact the now dubbed "wench" had even punched him and B) that she had struck him brutally right in his temple, rendering him immobile with pain and forcing him to drop the wounded wench on the ground. She cried out when she slammed into the forest floor, thankful that the snow some what helped cushion her fall, and she tried to scramble away but the pain slowed her down, every muscle in her body seizing up again while screaming with her every move.

She didn't get very far when Inuyasha recovered, mildly lightheaded from the blow to his temple accompanied by a major headache as he dove at her, grabbing her by her middle and aggressively holding her to his chest while she struggled and cursed, holding to retch herself out of his hold. Even as weak as she was she was a handful; she was almost his size and nothing but muscle! Not to mention that the profanity muttered from her mouth was far more impressive than anything he could ever come up with, and that was saying something. He would give her points for creativity if most of her mumbled insults weren't directed at him. Kagome had called him "baka" plenty of times but never "moronic son of a bitch!"

Fortunately for him, another wave of pain washed over her, once again making her go through the whole seizure routine as he held her tight till it passed, making certain she didn't bite her tongue or anything. When it was over, she slumped weakly in his arms; barely conscious and Inuyasha took that moment to pick her up again, running as fast as he could to friends, warmth, shelter, and, most importantly, RAMEN.