Chapter four

"So it is agreed?"

He did not agree to care for the beast. He agreed to a task yes but said task was supposed to be something tedious or arduous not degrading to this Sesshomaru. To think that the Soul Collector himself would trap this Sesshomaru into caring for his tainted little half-brother. What had he done to cause the god to be upset with him to such an extent that he would find such a ghastly punishment? Well it mattered not because the vile critter would simple stay in this dungeon until the healer saw him. The healer would see to him and his injuries and lord Sesshomaru would reap the benefits of the healers work. Death himself said that the seed could only be collected from a trusting soul he did not say that it could not be passed along after being collected from another.

It was decided the healer would be charged with the hanyous physical care and trust. This Sesshomaru may have a want of the hanyous tainted seed but he did not need it so badly that he would stoop to attending his father's shame.

With these thoughts settled the lord of the west sneered at his half-brother once more before turning around and exiting the cell. Throwing some parting word for the green imp that stared in open mouthed astonishment at the spot the Death bringer had recently floated.

"Jaken, see to it that a healer is brought and is in charge of the distasteful being that shares our fathers blood."

Jumper in fright and turning to face his lords back he bowed low and quickly affirmed that his lords will would be done. Taking one last look at the half-breed he ran out after his lord to find said healer.

Once he was sure both demons had left inuyasha allowed himself a small groan and tried to assess his injuries once more. He was now positive that he had dreamt the whole "him dying thing". Leave it to his malfunctioning psyche to conjure up his greatest dream and still find a way to ruin it for him by kicking him out. Well fucking peaches and cream, wasn't that just sweet. Whatever, he would focus on that later, right now he had to figure out what was wrong with him and who those two demons were. He knew already that he could not hear, see or smell anything but he could still feel demonic power so at least he would be able to tell if there was someone near him or close by. If he could walk (he knew he would be dam lucky if he could hobble so here was to hoping) he could guide his way by touch and stay out of site by avoiding demonic power flows. He was done here and death sounded good, since these wankers could not seem to finish him off he would find a way to do it himself. Maybe if he could get out of here he would stumble into a wild demon outside that would eat him. Being eaten was not so bad, one chomp and he would finally be free of his meaty prison. Yea that sounded good. Now to see if he could move.

It seemed that he had been unconscious for a while because he could move his back normally. He was both thankful and concerned, that had been such a big and deep wound he never should have healed from fully. He would not question it much now but later he would sit down and really think on how and why this was possible. If he could heal from such an injury would that mean it would be harder for him to die? Well, that sounded about right for his life. If he wanted it life was a bitch and denied him whatever his wee little heart desired. Poor little thing wilted and fell hundreds of miles to the ground and yet it still had the strength to hope for things. He really should find a way to put a stop to the little bugger, but he just did not have the strength to deny it, its small hopeful eyes that begged him to try. Sigh he was stupid that way.

Taking a deep breath he slowly moved his legs to see what had been taken care of. He was once more on his left side so he lifted his right leg a little only to stop mid-movement. Yep that was a broken femur that was odd why was his femur broken? Last he knew it was his shin sticking out of him to give him a warm greeting of bloody pain and smiles all around. Was his body unable to heal things fully after all and was transferring the damage into smaller wounds? That did not sound right. Had he healed and stayed unconscious only to be dragged from the room and "played" with anyway? Were these whole new injuries? Well… He could not say that was above or beyond his playmates cruelty, at least this time he had slept through the whole debacle. Still that did not explain his bodies miracles recovery. So his femur was broken that just meant he could not walk on that leg. He had two so he could work around this. Turning to his back slowly he felt he had a dislocated shoulder, his left shoulder. Well that sucked but was much preferred to a broken arm. Finally on his back he hissed, with no pressure on his left leg anymore he could now feel the cut that went from hip to ankle. Yea that was new but at least his leg was no longer crushed. God dam but how messed up was that? His "good" news was how minimal his wounds were compared to past wounds. Other people's good news was winning a race or getting a puppy, laughing at the contrast he tried to lift his left leg up off the floor. It did not feel comfortable and he could feel how deep the cut went when he bent his knee a bit but he could move it. That is all he needed. Now to sit up and check the rest of his body using his right arm he put his hand to the floor and pushed up, there was a small snapping noise before he right, a sharp pain ran up his arm. His wrist was broken, no big deal it was just the wrist. Taking it a bit slower he finished sitting up he could feel his ribs were broken on the right side but not as bad as before so that was dandy.

Now sitting up he felt a rush of victory pound a solid beat throughout him. He had sat up! That was such a step up to being a pathetic heap laying on the floor. Honestly he should see that as sad that that made him happy. It looked like he would not be hopping or hobbling out of this hole in search of his eternal release, but maybe he could find out where he was first. He knew for a fact this was not Nurakus castle because Nuraku had two lackeys that came to get him when summoned. No one else ever entered or left the castle, so who were these new demons? They did not have the same demonic signals as his previous care takers. He doubted he was rescued (reality was such a hateful bitch that way) if anything he was sold or taken as a prisoner by someone new. Well fine, what did he care anymore if he was treated like an equal? Not like he knew he was a prince or anything. Fuck it he had no time to whine about the fact that by right he should be able to charge these bastrds and have them he would have to just take care of that himself instead of charging them. Not that that bothered him, it was faster that way. Now to find out a way to check the damage done to his head and face, he could not touch his face to see why he could not smell or hear. He was positive he would never see again and he had made peace with that a while ago. Once someone takes a knife to your eye you kind of have to make peace with the fact you just stay blind. His left eye was still gone he was sure, it could have grown back with slightly impaired vison if fuck face had not decided to cauterize his wound so he would not "bleed out or get infected. Really inuyasha you should be thanking me for taking care you. You can be such an ungrateful burden. Now hold still.". Yea he was super ungrateful and if he was not dead he might as well find that piece of demonic trash and shove bamboo splinter into his eye sockets. Well look at that he, that idea held merit and filled him with childish excitment. First things first though, he had to find out where he was and who had him. He also needed to find out what else was damaged.

Well his ears felt shorter length wise as well as width wise. That was odd it felt familiar too, maybe he was a little more conscious than he remembered. His nose just felt stuffed as if he had cotton in there. It also seemed to be crooked to the right of his face a bit more than it should naturally be. Well other than his left eye being gone and his right being slashed as well as burned, everything seemed like it could and would heal if he rested a bit. He needed to set his left shoulder though otherwise his body would heal over the injury and try to compensate for what it saw as a permanent deformation. Learning that problem once was all he needed to never repeat it. He still felt his ankle twinge in pain when he remembered having to re-break it and set it as well as cut up the scar tissue inside so the muscles could heal properly as well. Yea that was one lesson of many lessons learned fast and hard.

Well this was not the first time he had been rendered so helpless so time to suck it up and move. Chances are these captors did not know him well and left him without guards thinking he would stay put. They would be wrong, he was a bit crippled, not dumb and completely immobile. He just needed to make it outside and ocne there he could let his youki lead him to water. There he could submerge in the water lose his scent and hide. Yea he was pretty crippled and chances are they would find him before he made it far but he had to try. You only really lost when you did not try. He really need to try because he really need to kill Naraku and that find something to finally kill him. So with this thought as motivation he got ready to start dragging his body across the floor regardless of his wrist and shoulder. He forced he arms into position and was just about ready to move when he felt another demonic energy walking in his direction.

Was this one of the demons he felt before? No this one felt different, calmer but powerful he would have to watch himself around this one just as much as the others. No one was safe, nowhere was safe, always be on guard. Now feeling the youki right next to him he waited to see what would happen next. He never heard the words uttered by this new demon but he felt a surge of power spike in this demons youki and he waited for the expected blow. Instead he felt big warm hands brush his left shoulder and wait. It was the barest of touch yet it conveyed so much. It asked if this was ok and that they were "safe". It was a question. For what he did not know but it was better he agree and pretend he had a choice in what happened next rather than have what ever did happen, happen against his will. He needed this illusion of allowance. So he minutely nodded his consent and waited to feel what happened next.

Putting a little bit more pressure on his arm he felt the hand travel up and in front of his dislocated shoulder. He then felt another hand join in at his left elbow. They stopped and waited, he knew what they were asking for this time. This demon, whoever it was, was asking if they could help, could this demon push his shoulder back in place? He needed this to happen one way or the other and it would go a lot better with some outside help. He bit the corner of his lip and nodded. The hand squeezed and then tapped him three times and waited, he was confused, he said yes so what was he being asked now? He tilted his head to the right to indicate his confusion, he could have spoken but he felt that would be odd for him since he would not hear himself speak. Once more the hand squeezed his upper arm and tapped gently three times. He pinched his brows together and thought about the action. On squeeze three taps. The other demon did not seem to be feeling impatient or frustrated at his slow processing of the question. In fact he waited a bit more then did it again, waiting for him to nod his agreement. To what was he agreeing to though? Wait. What if he was not being asked something but being told something? That was it! It was not a question! It was a warning of sorts the squeeze was saying "ready" the taps where three because they meant "on the count of three", brows lifting in realization inuyasha jerkily nodded his head in understanding. To show further he understood he pushed his arm a little into the hand holding it.

The hand squeezed once than twice. Then it tapped once. Twice. He clenched his teeth and shut his eyes tighter in preparation. On three there was a swift motion up and back, it was done fast and smooth with an even amount of pressure the whole way trough. With a grunt and a shudder inuyshe let his body adjust to what just happened, he felt the big hands very carefully moving over his shoulder. Perhaps checking over it for further damage. Seeming to find nothing one of the hand traveled to his left hand and squeezed once more. This one inuyasha understood, yes he was ok. He rolled his shoulder to show he was as well as could be expected and as happy as he could be, consider his arm felt like a noodle that had been stretch too far. No matter how many times this may have happened to him some things you just never get used to. Feeling one hand now on top of his head he pulled back and held up his arms to protect himself. It mattered not if this demon has helped him. Once people or demons focused on his ears they got angry, and his ears hurt enough already he did not need this demon attacking them.

However this demons youki never fluctuated or spiked it stayed steady and strong. Sure and calm, as if it understood and did not pity him nor think less of him. In fact he did not think this demon had an opinion on him at all. That was an oddity and a wonder. One he, inuyasha, would cherish for all time. Feeling the heavy comforting weight of this demons hands on his arms he slowly followed their movement down, he then felt another squeeze. Sure and strong it said "I know. I am here.", no promises of forever and no anger. Just a solid truth. This demon was here and this demon now knew his ears were a sensitive subject. One hand left his arms once they were down, and left his arms feeling cold but his head warm. The hand touched his forehead while the other one still on his right arm squeezed. He was staring to like that squeeze, he could not see, hear of smell but he could feel. This demon stayed with in is senses and made sure he knew all its movements and intentions to the best of its ability. Inuyasha nodded. He had to. This demon was so patient and dare he hope kind?

The hand on his forehead slowly, inch by inch, moved to the base of an ear. Never breaking contact, always letting him know where both of his hands were so he never felt weary. The fingers that touched the base of his ear hurt and he groaned. They lightened there already airy touch even more and glided up to the tip of an ear. This was done to both earns and god did it ever hurt. He could tell by how this demon touch him that his ears had been cropped. As if he were a puppy that was being physically altered so it could please a human enough to get a master. This was not the first time it had happened. This had been done to him one other time before he was old enough to even understand what it was to not trust someone. Before he understood what it was to fear. Before his mother had died. A lone tear escaped down his right cheek and he knew the other demon saw it because he could feel such intense eyes on his face. He felt that hand on his head travel down, down, down such a long journey it took. Till finally it found it's stopping point at his left eye and gently rubbed over his eye lid. The hand that had never strayed from his arm squeezed. He whimpered but nodded his consent. The hand, with such great care, lifted his lid and though he could not see he felt the first fluctuation in this demons youki. He knew this demon was now angered. Was he so repulsive that he had angered this man? This demon? This beast? No matter how much anger hefelt from this demons spiking youki though the demons hand never changed its gentle ministrations and observations.

After his whole body had be checked over and what could be cleaned and wrapped had been. The demon with his still pulsing anger lifted the young inuhanyou up and carried him some place. Inyuasha would have fought but he was tired and this demon had not hurt him, He had helped him so he just allowed this demon to do as he would. He was placed on something soft, well it was softer than the stone floor and slightly warmer. Whoever had him now cared not for him but gave him better than what he previously had. At least they sent him a healer. They even sent him a kind healer. Inuyasha would not complain. This was paradise right now. Being helped to lay down the young demons eyes fell heavy and closed. His last thought were that he could stay and perhaps get a bit stronger before seeking out his permanent end. Maybe he could rest here forever and slowly rot away. That sounded so nice, but he was never any good at rotting away. He yawned once and then everything went blank.

Chapter five