Chapter five

Kenshin's POV

I woke up slowly with pain lancing through my abdomen. I couldn't remember what had happened. I turned my head toward Saito and saw that he was awake and watching me. He looked annoyed and I couldn't help but smile at him. Saito rolled his eyes and shifted to his left, making him wince. I tried to sit up, but Saito put one hand on my shoulder and bared his teeth at me like a wolf. I looked down at my abdomen and saw bandages wrapped neatly around it.

"What happened, Wolf? What did you do to me?" I asked the pain lessening to a dull throb. Saito let out a mirthless laugh.

""I only removed to arrow you left in your side you ahou. If you had left in a little longer you would have died from an infection." Saito answered rubbing his own wound gently. He reached back into the box and pulled out a bottle. He uncorked the bottle and I smelled alcohol. "Do you want some?"

"No. You shouldn't be drinking either. We need to keep focused." I said watching him take a long drink from the bottle. Saito pointed toward the mouth of the cave and I saw that there was barely any light coming in.

"We are buried in here Battousai. What exactly am I supposed to be focused on?" Saito asked taking another drink of the liquor. I felt a twinge of panic start but I stamped down on it immediately. There was no way I could show weakness in front of the Wolf of Mibu. Saito was staring at me and I looked away from him and into the fire. I reached out toward him and he put the bottle in my hand with a diminutive snort.

"How much food do we have?" I asked answering his question with another just to irritate him. I took a swig of the liquor and stared at him slightly shocked. "Whiskey? Where did you get this?"

"We stole it, obviously." Saito said with a straight face. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. Why, is it not to your liking?"

"Shut up, it was just a question." I muttered darkly before taking another sip of the whiskey. It burned on the way down my throat but it lessened the pain in my abdomen.

Saito's POV

I watched the Battousai drink the whiskey and smirked. It was going to be fun to see how the liquor affected him. I held out my hand for the bottle back and he gave it back reluctantly. I took a drink and settled the bottle near the fire so it warmed. The Battousai glanced at the cave mouth again and I saw him shiver somewhat. The feeling of being trapped was starting to get to me as well but I knew that there was another exit somewhere in the back. It was rarely used and it was dangerous because of the narrow trail.

"Battousai, relax. There is another way out of the cave." I said earning a hopeful glance from him and then a death glare. "Neither of us is in any condition to take that exit though. It is a narrow trail and it drops down a little more than fifty feet on the left side. We would both need to be in our best condition to take that path."

"This isn't some joke is it?" He asked shifting to the right and lying down on his uninjured side. I saw his body relax considerably. "You said that there were no towns nearby."

"No joke. The trail leads to another cave farther down the river and it is another fifteen miles to a town. There are a few camps, but you don't want to go to any of them. They'd kill you in a heartbeat." I answered truthfully. I saw no reason to lie to him at this point. I reached for the whiskey and felt the stitches tug and begin to tear. I winced and saw the Battousai's eyes dart to my side.

"Have they torn?" He asked with a glare. I nodded and he sat up slowly before climbing to his feet. He walked over to me and knelt down beside me carefully. He lifted up my shirt and then the bandages. I saw blood dripping from the end of the sword wound and the Battousai glowered at me.

"Are you going to slit my throat?" I asked with a grin. He glared at me and then poked me hard in the wound. My breath caught in my throat and my arm shot out, catching him hard on the jaw. The Battousai fell back and landed on his arm. I heard something crunch and we both groaned. My wounds were bleeding severely now.

Kenshin's POV

That BASTARD!!!! I let out a small whimper as I moved my left arm; I knew that it was broken. I lashed out with my foot and caught Saito hard in the side. I felt some of his ribs give way and we were both rolling on the floor in pain. I curled up and felt tears running down my face.

"You bastard!" I managed to say between gasps. I held my arm to my chest and tried to feel how it had broken. It was a clean break as far as I could tell and I looked over at Saito. He was lying on his back, clutching his side and his ribs. Saito moaned and looked back at me. "What in the HELL is wrong with you? Why'd you hit me?"

"It was a reflex." Saito answered his breathing ragged and his face becoming paler by the second. "You broke my ribs."

"You broke my arm." I snapped back sitting up slowly. I automatically felt dizzy and I rested my head in my good hand. Saito sighed and he tried to sit up but he couldn't. I saw the blood starting to pool beneath him and I moved toward him. "Don't move around and DON'T hit me."

Saito gave me a slight nod and let his hand fall to the floor. I removed the bandages and took the medical kit out again. I tried to get the thread in the needle but without my left arm, it was impossible. Saito reached up and took the needle and thread from me. His hands were shaking harshly but he was able to get the thread through the eye of the needle. Saito handed it back to me and I tried to begin the stitches. He grabbed my hand and steadied it. I was able to get the stitches done with help from Saito. He kept my hand steady the entire time. When I cut the thread, Saito's hand dropped and his eyes closed. I saw the bruises starting to form on his chest and I felt for his pulse in his neck, it was weak. I bandaged his wounds the best I could and then I tried to bandage my arm. It was painful and after I finished, I took a long pull of whiskey and lay down beside Saito. I closed my eyes and fell into an uneasy sleep.

TBC…