It had to be a trap. Morning had fallen over the world, and Sesshomaru's scent was in the forest. She had heard calls as well; howls of sorrow and distress. The ground and trees had shaken, with a threat. In a canine language, somebody had mourned for their mate. Nazoki had been staring in the direction of the sound, and smell for an hour. There was blood. When the other man had concealed himself as the lord, his scent was tainted. This was not. Partial to the idea of walking into such an obvious scheme, Nazoki slowly moved towards it. She could not shift. Nor could she move too quickly, but the possibility of truly finding Sesshomaru was too much to refuse.
The vixen silently made her way over the foliage. She weaved through the trees, taking care to be extra cautious. When she finally reached the source of the scent, she caught sight of Sesshomaru; injured, and sleeping. The lord held a peaceful expression, yet managed to maintain his stern demeanor. A single ray of light illuminated the fur, and blood of his mokomoko. The man was leaned against a large tree, with a rock on the right of him. A few meters away was the river. The current was slow, but farther down it seemed to increase.
Peeking from behind a tree trunk, Nazoki slowly started towards him. She crept over the fallen leaves of the ground as silently as possible. Upon reaching the man, she carefully lowered his collar. He had the pendant on. Therefore, this was the real Sesshomaru. Had he been the one calling? Though she was still weak, he needed to heal. It was the least she could offer, and she would slip away once more. Nazoki gazed at the dark blood, which had spread from the man's chest to his tail. There was a small gash on his neck, and his right sleeve was sprinkled with blood.
She would not wake him. Though she could not shift, she could still weave an illusion. Crawling over the lord, Nazoki connected their lips. In the same breath, she cloaked herself with the background of the forest. When she pushed her strength to him, he hungrily absorbed her offer. Of course, the man woke up. He felt the lips against his, and the hands on his jaw. One slipped to his hair; deepening the kiss. Confusion rippled through the man, as he saw nothing, but smelled Nazoki. The sensation of hair tickling his skin sent a slight shiver down the lord's spine. His wounds were healed, and though blood and miasma could also be detected, she did not take from him. Simply gave.
When he reached to wrap his arm around the woman, she gripped his wrist, in a feeble attempt to restrain him. The lord did halt, however, and allowed his hand to be pushed back to the forest ground. Curiously sliding his hand towards his lap, he found a leg. Therefore, there was definitely a woman, sitting with her legs on either side of him. The hand on his wrist moved to the ring on his finger, and a light, repetitive tapping against the stone was felt. This did not make sense. She was supposed to be dead. Was it a dream? But why would she be invisible in a dream? When the man tried to push his energy to her, the contact was broken. He gripped what could only be fabric, yet it was tugged away from him. Sesshomaru tried to see, but there was nothing to set his eyes upon. Barely there footsteps moved away from him, and an apology was murmured. That was definitely Nazoki.
But why would she hide from him? Why would the vixen remain alone, instead of returning to the group... To him? Gazing at his hand, Sesshomaru found blood. She had not been tapping the ring, but bleeding on it. Why was she still bleeding? How bad were her wounds? Moreover, why had she not allowed him to heal her in return?
"Nazoki."
The moment his smoldering tone broke the peaceful silence of the forest, the footsteps halted. There was no response, yet Sesshomaru knew she was waiting to hear him.
"Come here." The lord commanded, and a distinct muteness fell over the pair. She did not listen. The vixen had not moved an inch. Pushing himself to his feet, Sesshomaru stared in the direction of her breathing. Though she may have been able to conceal herself, nothing could hide the labored breaths a short distance away.
"Reveal yourself, Nazoki."
After a short pause, a pained voice responded.
"No..."
Raising an eyebrow, Sesshomaru maintained his blank expression.
"Why not?"
"I don't want you to see me like this..." The vixen barely whispered the words, which caused confusion to ripple through the lord.
Frowning, Sesshomaru wondered what was wrong with her. What did she look like? More importantly, what had been done to her? If she expected him to let her leave, she was mistaken. Having had enough of the elusive nature of the woman's actions, Sesshomaru extended his aura. When the force encountered her illusion, she whimpered. With little effort on his part, Sesshomaru stared at the vixen before him. She dropped her head, as he studied her.
Covered in gashes, and blood. Her left ear was missing a triangular bit of flesh. The woman appeared to be exhausted, and her throat was dark; almost black. Once beautiful red curls were now knotted, with bits of leaves mixed in. Smudges of dirt had covered her wounded hands, and a few other choice locations of her body. Her stomach was wounded; the only clue to that being the large dark spot on her yukata. Her knee was skinned, and when she connected her palms and raised them to her chest, the lord found her elbows identical. So why had she not accepted his energy?
To stand before Sesshomaru, who still maintained an immaculate appearance, and look so poorly was enough to hurt the vixen's pride. She could not look at him. Not like this. In addition, she wished that he was not looking at her. Hot tears welled in her eyes, and she immediately concealed herself once more. He had not spoken a single word, nor had he moved. Simply stared at her, showing no emotion whatsoever.
Seeing Nazoki in such a condition... Sesshomaru had still been irritated with the woman, even after her presumed death. But now he couldn't feel such a thing towards her. If anything, he was disappointed in himself. He had not been able to find her in time, or help at all. She had saved herself, and done a good job of it. Naraku seemed to think the woman dead. As did Kagura. Whatever Nazoki had done, she had been smart about it. What Sesshomaru did not understand was what had been done to her. Through the scent of miasma, he could not tell if the vixen had been... Taken.
Before he could summon the question, or speak a single word, for that matter, she rushed away. Sesshomaru was obviously faster than she was. However, she moved so slowly that he did not even try to follow. Simply remained in place, gazing in the direction of her footsteps, as the woman escaped into the nearby river.
'Will you follow her?'
'Hn?'
'Will you follow her, or will I force my way out?'
Frowning, Sesshomaru considered his beast's words. Since when had he become interested in anything but forcing his mark upon the vixen? Shaking his head, the lord started in the opposite direction, only to have his body lock in place.
'You smelled the tears... I will make your life hell if you do not go after her.' The growl within the lord caused him to scowl.
'Not now.'
'She healed us, we must return the favor.' 'Not now...' 'After she dies again?' 'Shut up.'
The next internal murmur caused Sesshomaru's eyes to widen slightly. The expression was quickly hidden, but his beast already knew his reaction.
'Did you see the vixen? You failed to protect our mate.'
"This Sesshomaru has no mate, and nobody to protect." Speaking the words as a confirmation to himself, the lord forced his body to continue.
'Is that so?' Slowly retreating to the depths of his mind, the beast whispered the words; leaving the question to haunt the lord. Stopping Sesshomaru contemplated their conversation
However, what was there to be said? Did it even make sense to try to talk to her? Gazing over his shoulder at the river, Sesshomaru remained deathly still. She had been infected with miasma. If the vixen did not get to a priestess, or allow him to help she would surely die. Again. However, this time it would be real. The lord shifted his gaze. He had to find Kagome. Moreover, keep an eye on Nazoki, invisible or not.
With a gasp, Nazoki bounced to the surface of the cold stream she had jumped into. Sesshomaru did not appear to be around, to her relief. Grabbing a nearby rock, the vixen pulled herself to the edge of the current. She grasped a small stone, and created a makeshift comb. To think that Sesshomaru broke her illusion, and saw her in such a state. How humiliating. Though appearances were nothing to concern herself with at a time like this, she could not help herself. In a matter of minutes, she had fixed her hair, and thoroughly scrubbed herself clean. The sand and herbs she used stung her hands, as well as the many scrapes and gashes, but she did not care.
Not to her surprise, the water flowing away from her was tinted scarlet. Shaking her head, Nazoki dunked herself underwater once more. She did not care if it was freezing. Or if somebody could simply walk up and find her naked in the river. It did not matter. What was important was that Sesshomaru never saw her in such a horrible condition again. Feverishly crushing soapweed in her palms, the woman rubbed the herb over herself once more.
Everything but her neck. Her reflection showed the dramatic improvement, yet everything but her exhaustion and the ever-growing darkness of her neck was cleansed. Smacking the reflection, Nazoki crawled from the stream. She sighed to herself, and washed her yukata. Sesshomaru's energy could not be spared today. He was too exhausted. It may not have shown, but she could tell. So she could not allow the man to offer her any. Hopefully, what she had provided was enough to kick start his recuperation. But where did that leave her? Back to preying on humans. The only problem was that she did not have the strength to do so.
Pulling the wet fabric over herself, Nazoki listlessly ambled back into the forest. After moments of walking, she stumbled upon a large rock formation. The boulder itself was covered in a golden ray of light. The trees overhead parted, providing an ample amount of sun. Giving her strength to the lord left her exhausted. Drowsily crawling onto the rock, she curled into a ball. Combusting was impossible. All she could manage was raising her body heat, and hoping the sun and heat of the rock would dry her before nightfall.