Chp 11

I dont own Inuyasha.

Sharp stabs of pain coursed through her body; she couldn't remember a time where she had ever felt like she had been run

Sharp stabs of pain coursed through her body; she couldn't remember a time where she had ever felt like she had been run over by a bus. But this was as good a time as any. It was also hot; she could feel the sweat drip down her face and body. So hot. Every time she tried to wipe it from her brow, she found that she couldn't feel her arms or her hands, which made it extremely difficult to reach her face.

It was a strange sensation to feel the pain but not be able to move her limbs. She thought she could feel the tension of her arm muscles, but maybe she just didn't have the energy to actually lift them. It was an easy acceptance, she was tired as well and just lying there was slightly comforting. She just had a tingle in the back of her mind that wanted her to try just to make sure that she wouldn't be here forever. Although, if dying meant an end to her current pain, she would gladly embrace it.

The only thing she saw was the black of her eyelids. If her arms wouldn't move, her eyes most certainly wouldn't open. Her mind drifted into a void trying to block out her ailments. There was nothing else she could do. Everything hurt.

Fogginess crept into her sensations and the pain slowly started to fade with her heart beat. She became tired, more tired than she had ever been in her life.

It's okay to let go. I don't think there is anything else to hold onto. It feels so nice just to give in. It's over. Finally.

Visions of amber eyes and long white hair danced through her mind. Red. White. Claws. Fangs. He smiled down at her and with his smile came peace of mind. He would come to her one day again; this life just wasn't the one. There will be others.

Smiling, she let her mind fade from existence. Her heart beat slowed, and the pain slowly faded into nothing.

"Wake up! Kagome, wake up! You will not die dammit! We need you!" Sango frantically squeezed Kagome's shoulders and tried to wake her. She had thought that she was going to be fine.

Kagome's wounds looked as though they were healing, there shouldn't be any reason for her to be dying. But every time Sango put her ear to Kagome's chest she could hear her heart beat slowing, begging to stop.

"Inuyasha! Kagome is dying. I don't know if there is anything I can do." Sango yelled in Inuyasha's direction. There really wasn't anything he could do right now either, he was occupied with Naraku.

Glancing at Sango, a sad expression swept across his face. "Sanorai! You said that when you were near her she wouldn't die. I thought it had something to do with that bond."

Sanorai quickly swept his eyes over Gigi, she always got angry when that bond was spoken of. It was supposed to be between them, not Kagome. Sanorai would probably never be forgiven for his sins against Gigi.

Thinking back to what he knew about the bond…..She shouldn't die with me this near. Her wings are severed from her back, which was the main thing that connected them. Only a small mark remains on her face, but still, the bond isn't broken so she should heal. Unless she's given up. No, she wouldn't do that.

"I don't know Inuyasha, she should be healing faster now that I'm here. Unless, she's given up, that's the only thing I can think of. But I don't think she would ever do such a thing. She's a very strong woman; giving up just doesn't sound like something she would ever do."

Inuyasha flexed his fingers on Tetutsaiga's hilt causing his knuckles to become white. Raising his arm higher over his head, every muscle in his body tensed, he ran head first toward Naraku. "I will kill you a hundred times over if she dies Naraku!"

Side stepping, Naraku smirked as Tetutsaiga barely missed his face. "I didn't plan on her dying so soon either. That would be a tragedy for me as well. Can't you see? I have plenty planned for her. It would be a damper."

Digging his heels into the dirt, Inuyasha changed his fighting position to defensive as he blocked Naraku's claws with Tetutsiaga. Sweat began to bead on his forehead and his heart pounded. He needed to hurt Naraku enough to send him running so that he could tend to Kagome. If she was going to die, he wanted it to be in his arms.

Naraku's minions started to close in on the group. Gigi continued to fire arrows into the masses. Sanorai took down the ones that got too close to Gigi with his sword and Sango was up with Harukitsu hanging over her back. Kirara radiated with fire exploding from her paws, everyone was ready, except for Kagome who was on the ground off to the side. Her chest barely rose up and down and her face was serene.

"If I could get to her I could try to heal her the way she taught me." Gigi's face was hard as she continued to fire sacred arrows into the scum that refused to back down. Every one that fell back was replaced by an equal. "But it seems that today we will all die. I only have a few arrows left. Well, at least we die together!"

"Nobody be dying today, girl!" Kaede announced as she stepped forward with a quarter staff. Behind her stood hundreds of soldiers; human and youkai alike. The youkai had banded together when they found what the humans had intended, after all, this was their Earth too. And most of them preferred to be masters of themselves, not the Damned.

A lion youkia stood tall next to a boar with a human girl straddling its back already shooting arrows into the enemy. Every person with arrows and quivers fired simultaneously without even being asked. They knew what they were here for and losing was not an option.

Soldiers marched up to Sango and Sanorai and asked for orders. Each had an arm or head band representing the colors of their village, hoping to be remembered in history. Some held quarter staffs, while others sliced with katanas. There were a few outcasts with weapons that were specialized and made for the person, a sythe here, a rikosama there causing people to part in its path. Rin would have been impressed to see another with her weapon.

"Kaede! What have you done!? This is amazing!" Sango shrilled in excitement. She had already formed attack formations with the soldiers, sending one line in after another. She had had many lessons in battle when she was still apart of the demon slayer clan. It was one of her strongest points. Her father complimented her many times on the choices that she made during the stress of battle.

"I heard ye might need help, so I be here with back up. As ye can see." Smiling broadly she stretched her arms out pointing at the array of people around them. "They be quite willing to help out the hero's of Japanese legend. They swore blood oaths to ye. They be yours till the battles ends."

Gigi loosed her last arrow and turned heel towards Kagome, who still sat off to the side. She had to try something, even though it would be hard to concentrate with the battle ensuing around them. Tripping over a dropped staff she tumbled to the ground with her quiver bouncing to her side. "Ugh. Graceful as usual."

Before she could right herself, Sanorai slid his hands under her arms and lifted her to her feet. "Be more careful. You understand how upset I will be if you get hurt."

Glaring at him, her eyes opened in surprise as one of the Damned hurtled himself at Sanorai with an axe gleaming with blood. "Watch out!" Pointing her fingers at the Damned, she felt a tingle run down her arm as he exploded into little pieces of flesh flying in every direction.

Sanorai gasped at the sight before him. He had no idea how strong she was. Kagome was right when she said that Gigi would be one of the most powerful Miko's of this time.

Falling to her knees, Gigi pushed away from Sanorai and crawled towards Kagome. She had just used quite a bit of strength dissipating that demon; she couldn't afford to lose anymore for Kagome's sake.

"Kagome, you better not be giving up. I know you have been through a lot and I'm so sorry, but you must live!" Grabbing her shoulders, Gigi connected with her healing power and thrust it into Kagome's body trying to speed up her heart beat and blood flow. Kagome's chest heaved into the air and fell back down to the ground with a loud thud. Nothing.

"Ok. Maybe that was too much….." Concentrating her power into a softer, smoother flow, she coaxed it into massaging Kagome's heart muscle and slowly increasing the time in between each beat.

Kagome's chest heaved and it fell back to the ground a little more softly than before. Her heart beat became a little stronger, it was still faint, but it was no longer slowing.

"I think I did something! She isn't better but it's a start." Turning her attention back to Kagome, she continued to try different healing methods.

Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder to see Gigi next to Kagome's side. He was slightly relieved to know that Gigi knew a little about healing. Kagome had learned so much in the time that she had been in the feudal era and studied with Kaede, surely she taught Gigi a bit of what she knew.

Sweat poured down his face and his muscles longed to give in. Naraku and Inuyasha danced around each other oblivious to the battle taking place around them. Their feet crunched over bodies strewn across the dirt, humans, youkai, and the Damned. Inuyasha treaded lightly over their allies in respect and pounded heavily over the enemy in scorn. Thankfully there were ten times as many Damned on the ground than their soldiers.

Tetutsiaga hung heavily in his hand with the hilt digging into his palm. Every blow that Inuyasha deflected sent sharp ripples up his arm and over his shoulder. If he survived this battle his whole body would ache for days and that's with him healing faster because of his demon blood.

Rolling across the ground, he bounded up to the side of Naraku and sliced him from hip to knee. That was the biggest wound he had given Naraku yet.

Howling Naraku limped a few paces away from Inuyasha trying to get a little distance. "I will kill you for that!"

Inuyasha arched Tetutsiaga over his head to head for Naraku while he was injured. It would be the best time to attack. Before he took two steps, Seshoumaru flew across the ground and ripped Naraku's left wing down its side.

"This is my fight Seshoumaru! You bastard!" Inuyasha screamed with anger radiating from his voice.

"I will leave my mark on Naraku even if it means taking your pride down a few notches, mutt. He and I have unfinished business." Seshoumaru said dryly while licking the blood from his claws. It was amazing that he looked angelic while doing something so incredibly savage.

While Inuyasha and Seshoumaru argued, Naraku steadily made his way behind his minions and begun to creep off. Today was not the day to finish this fight, especially now that he was injured. It wouldn't take him long to heal, but fighting in the condition he was in was not a great idea. And he refused to continue in a battle that he wasn't one hundred percent sure that he was going to win.

"Where are you going coward!?" Inyasha yelled as he followed Naraku. He wanted to finish him now and be done with it.

"I will come back for you and your miko if she lives. I promise you that, Inuyasha." Naraku smirked and lifted off the ground using his wings to the best of his ability, given that the left one was close to shreds. The difficulty of the task was smeared across his face.

With the exit of Naraku, what was left of the Damned quickly made their escape behind him. They would do no good for him fighting a battle that they would lose without him.

All around the 'group of legend' the soldiers and youkai roared shouts of praise as the enemy retreated. Fallen allies were picked up and tended to. Youkai and human worked together to save the people who were still alive and injured. Very few of them had fallen, more humans than youkai though.

Inuyasha rushed to Kagome's side and crouched next to Gigi. "Have you had any luck?" Worry clouded his eyes as he gazed at Gigi's hands on Kagome's shoulders.

"I am nearly exhausted, but as long as I pump her heart for her, she does not die. I don't know how long I can keep this up though. I fear that before long I will not even be able to sit up." Gigi scrunched her nose in frustration. It wasn't easy to accept that she wasn't good enough to save a good friend.

"Let's see if I can be of any help, girl." Resting her hands over Gigi's, Kaede pushed her power into Gigi's and coerced her flow to intertwine with the other. Their power combined should do something even though Gigi was almost tapped out.

Kagome's chest heaved off the ground once again and to Gigi's surprise her eyes flew open followed by a gasp. Inuyasha immediately wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap, causing Gigi and Kaede to fall back and smile. "Don't you ever do that to me again!" he whispered for only Kagome to hear.

Gigi collapsed to the ground without enough energy to hold her head up and look at the pair in front of her. Sanorai quickly picked her up off the ground and carried her to a place he had made camp. Gigi was too exhausted to complain; she let her head fall against his chest and her eyes glared at his chin.

Wrapping his fingers in her raven hair, Inuyasha pushed her forehead against his shoulder and leaned his cheek against her face.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome wheezed. "Where are we? Where's Naraku?"

Tilting her head up to look in her eyes, he squeezed her further into his body. "You don't have to worry about him right now Kagome. I will never let him hurt you again. You are with me."

Kagome looked over Inuyasha's shoulder and covered her mouth in surprise. Bodies of the Damned lay in pieces as far as the eye could see. The smell that had hit her when she awoke suddenly became more obvious in her mind with the reason. Human soldiers and youkai were setting up camp a small distance away, while others were dragging the bodies away. She hoped to be buried or burned. Burning them would probably be easiest.

When looking around she could not find one body that didn't belong to the Damned. The soldiers must have fought well or their bodies had been tended to first out of respect.

"What's happened?" Kagome whispered as she continued to search her surroundings. Sango waved at Kagome as she and Kirara helped set up camp. Seshoumaru sat under a tree with his nose in the air and ignored the people bustling around him. Sanorai was also near the camp walking back and forth appearing to talk with himself. That was slightly amusing for Kagome.

A young human soldier walked delicately up to Inuyasha and Kagome as if he was trying to be quiet so as not to upset her. He had dark brown hair pulled back in a low pony tail and a red band was wrapped around his forehead. Once he got near, he kneeled to the ground and pressed his head into the dirt.

"Forgive me for interrupting you. My name is Shinoba and I am one who has sworn to serve. I am reporting our progress. The camp has almost been completely put up and food has been put on fires for the soldiers. We arrived with roughly 700 human and youkai soldiers alike, so far the death count for our side is only 27. 24 human, 3 youkai. As you can also see the bodies, the death count for the Damned is around 500."

Peeking up from his postion, Shinoba smiled at Inuyasha and Kagome.

Kagome scrunched her nose and motioned for him to stand. "You do not have kneel. If fact, I don't want anyone to kneel to us. You are our equal. We have the same enemy and we fight on the same side, you are just as important as any of us." Kagome stated weakly.

"Thank you for the reports. I have recently woken, as you can see. So I will have to be filled in on what exactly has occurred."

Kagome sent Shinoba off with a grin from ear to ear. He was a brave young man.

Turning her attention back to Inuyasha, she threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him like she would never get to hug him again.

"I'm happy you're alright, Kagome. You had me worried."

"Thank you for saving me, Inuyasha. I think I need a vacation." Giggling, Kagome looked down and she noticed that she was covered only by a blanket; she was naked from chin to waist. Squealing she scooted off of Inuyasha's lap and pulled the blanket tighter around her body.

"I need a top!"

Inuyasha's cheeks colored as Kagome gave him a hard look.

Rin ran head first through the brush. She and the others had heard sounds of fighting and their friends had to have been in the middle of it. She held her rikosama in her hand unwound, ready to fight at the first sight of the enemy.

Miroku and Shippo loped behind her, searching the area for Inuyasha or any of the others. Miroku had been incredibly worried about Sango. Their minds had run a hundred miles a minute, constantly thinking what could be happening. It seemed wrong that they werent there when the fighting had started.

"We have to be getting close. I don't hear fighting anymore, I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. I hope we're not too late." Rin said, looking over her shoulder at the others.

Losing her footing from not paying attention, Rin rolled across the ground and laid sprawled out with her rikosama wrapped around her legs. "Ouch!" Idiot! Seshouomaru would have me on a stick if he knew I had been running with the rikosmoma unwound. Maybe I can get it off my legs myself.

She couldn't move her legs without it cutting deeper into her skin, so she stayed perfectly still, hoping Miroku could un-wrap it and bandage her leg when he got to her. Miroku!

White hair cascaded over her face, and golden eyes stared down at her. For a second she thought concern was written on that face, but just as quickly as it was there, it disappeared into coldness.

Seshoumaru crouched down next to her and gave her a sharp look. "How many times have I told you not to run with that weapon?" Shit!! If I didn't have bad luck, I wouldnt have luck at all, Rin thought.

"Well….umm….I heard battle and I had to get to you in time. Please just un-tangle me." Rin pleaded as she tried to hold back the tears that were forcing themselves into her eyes. She did not want to cry in front him. She was a woman now, not a child.

"I assume you have learned your lesson, or should I take away that weapon until you earn it again?" Seshoumaru asked dryly adding to his already icy gaze.

"Please just take it off. It hurts." Rin's lip quivered and she looked away from his stare. Couldn't he just say that he missed her instead of being such a hard ass all the time? Inuyasha would never leave Kagome lying on the ground when he could help her.

"Very well."

Seshoumaru delicately un-raveled the weapon from her legs, taking care not to cause anymore damage than was already done. His soft hands were a contradiction to his hard attitude. Sometimes it surprised Rin that he even helped her at all. Sometimes he would act like he cared so much and in the same minute he would scold her. It just didn't make much sense.

Once the weapon was completely detached from her legs, he rolled it up and stuck it in his haori. Picking her up into his arms, he tried to hold her so that he wouldn't brush against her wounds, which was slightly difficult since they covered her entire lower body. Shaking his head his voice became frosty, which was colder than before if that was even possible. "I will take you to the camp. I don't have any bandages with me."

Nodding her head, she went along with him. Miroku and Shippo had caught up but knew better than to interfere. They were in no mood to have to deal with an angry Seshoumaru. Once they reached the camp, Miroku, Shippo, and Rin gasped at the amount of soldiers spread out over the land. "There are so many of them. They came to help?" The boys asked each other and began talking as the woundered around camp to find their friends. Seshoumaru took Rin to an area a way off that he had claimed his camp site. Rin figured it was out of the way so he could scold her without everybody hearing, or he lacked the social gene completely and he stayed away from others. The latter was more likely.

"You have said little since I retrieved you. That's abnormal to say in the least." Seshoumaru set her on a pallet and began to rummage through some bandaging that he had picked up along the way to his camp.

"You make me angry and sometimes I think it's best if I don't speak to you. I would probably say things that I would regret." Sticking her nose in the air, she huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. He was a stubborn mule. "Are you done scolding me? Go on, get it over with if you are not done. I have searched for you for days with little food or water and now I find you and you are a jerk!"

A small smile crossed over his features as he began to spread ointment over her thigh. She was quite a stubborn mule at times. He remembered when she was younger and carefree and connected to his hip. He was surprised when her moods started flipping about like a bucking horse. Stubborn one minute, apologetic the next. Happy, Sad, and emotions that Seshoumaru didn't even know existed. She was turning into a woman it seemed. Myoga had told him that that would happen one day.

"Ouch!" Rin bit her lip as the ointment stung her wounds.

"I'm satisfied that you learned your lesson. Will you continue to run with the rikosama?" Seshoumaru finished bandaging her legs and began to put away the bandaging. He had completely ignored her previous questions; some things he felt didnt dignify an answer. She was simply being difficult.

Rin's glare was sharp as she watched him move around camp. He could raise the hair on the back of her neck in anger more easily these days. While others ran from him screaming, she ran at him with defiance. "I have learned my lesson with injury." She punched the ground and then yelped when the vibration from her arm moved down her legs. He really bothered her sometimes.

"You know, I know you miss me when I'm not around. So you can quit acting like a jerk and treating me like a child. I am a woman now! I am no baby!" Rin exploded when she couldn't take his half smile any longer.

"You are right; you are no longer a child. You have grown out of the teens into a young woman. But you still need guidance." Crouching next to her, Seshoumaru handed her a small cup of green tea. "Now, missing you would be like missing a thorn in the side."

"You jerk!" Rin poured the tea onto the ground and threw the cup at his chest.

Seshoumaru merely watched as it bounced off and rolled across the ground with a smirk on his face. She was quite temperamental and it amused him to set her off every now and again. He watched as she covered up with a blanket and rolled her back to him.

Seshoumaru settled next to a tree facing her and watched as her breathing slowed and she eventually drifted to sleep. One day, maybe, he would admit that he did in fact miss her when she was not around. But not any time soon.

That's the end of that chapter. It's not one of my favorites, but hopefully the next will be a little more umphf! Lol. Anyway, obey the button and review! Thank you!