A light rain fell through the leafy canopy overhead as she filled her basket with a small assortment of wild berries. It was a good day to harvest on account of the rain. Few others would think to traverse this far into the mountains from the village, meaning there would be plenty for her to take and prepare for the following winter. A small bit of dried fruit or jelly on a long winter's day was sometimes the only thing that kept her spirits up.

Turning, she noticed a small bush laden with berries and decided it would be her final bush to harvest before returning to the temple. She would be soaked through either way, so figured she may as well make the trip worthwhile.

It was as she squatted down in front of the bush and collected her first handful of berries that she heard the stirrings behind her. The forest had gone quiet but for the soft snorts that sounded far too close for comfort. Turning her head slightly to the side, she saw exactly what she'd feared – a wild boar was eagerly foraging at the base of the berry bush next to where she sat.

She froze, terrified to even breathe in the animal's presence. Boars were well known to be nasty, temperamental creatures. They would kill a man without a second thought simply for daring to be in their space. Moving silently, she switched the small knife she'd been using to cut the berries from their vines to her other hand. Her palm was already damp with a nervous sweat and the handle felt slick as she wrapped her fingers around it.

She struggled to remember what she'd been told to do in just such a situation. Remain still, make herself as small as possible, all reasonable except that she had no hope of moving or hiding with the beast barely an arm's length away. Its beady eyes looked greedily at the basket of berries she'd collected.

"Don't you dare," she whispered under her breath and that seemed to be all the invitation the beast needed. Letting out a loud squeal it charged at her. She had barely any time to react, certainly none to even stand up or move out of the way. At best she could get the small pruning knife between them, though what good it would do against the sizeable tusks the beast wore she couldn't be certain.

The beast charged and knocked her on her back, kicking the wind straight out of her. Pain seared up her thigh and she gave a soft cry as her hands flew to the spot. It was already slick with blood and she could feel more gushing against her hands.

The seriousness of the situation she now found herself in did not escape her, even as the grip of her hands went slack and she felt the rain fall upon her face. She supposed there were worse places to die. She only felt sorry for her brother. What a curse for him to lose all of his family in a single year. She wondered if he would be all right, if the villagers would step in to help him manage his grief.

In the distance she heard the audible squeal of the boar and then only the sound of the rain on the tree tops. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again, she saw a pair of familiar amber eyes and managed a faint smile.

"You came…" she said softly, though she wasn't entirely certain the words actually left her lips. Her body had grown weak and cold. Her eyes drifted closed, too tired to remain open for even a moment longer. She could no longer feel the rain, but she could hear it falling, soaking the earth, washing her blood away. Nature had a way of making things clean once more, as though the trauma had never existed at all. It had always surprised her how quickly a battlefield once strewn with bodies returned to being a farm. One growing season, maybe two. Nature never felt all that torn up about death. It was merely another part of life, a necessary and inevitable end for all things.

The thought comforted her as she felt her body being lifted from the damp earth. If death was to be her fate, she was relieved it would not be some protracted sickness like the one that had taken her parents. This death would be quick and mostly painless. Already her leg had ceased to throb and she no longer felt cold as she had before. She lay her head more solidly against the soft perch of Sesshomaru's shoulder ruff and felt relief ease her fears.

At least someone had come for her. He would return her to the shrine, sparing her the indignity of decaying out in the wild as food for animals. It was a small mercy, but one she greatly appreciated. If she'd had the strength to thank him, she would have, but the only thing she seemed able to focus on was how tired she felt. Her body felt so very heavy, as though it were being pulled down, down, down into some infinite abyss.

The sound of the rain slowly slipped away, and then there was nothing at all.

oOo

She awoke to find herself in the woods, further than she'd ever gone before. She sat up slowly, expecting a sharp jolt of pain from her thigh, but felt nothing. Her hand slid over the blood-soaked material of her pants but she could feel no injury beneath. Not so much as a scratch blemished her skin. Stunned, she looked up to find Sesshomaru watching her, his amber eyes studying her speculatively.

"So, I wasn't hallucinating," she commented, more to herself than to him.

Moving slowly, she rose to sit on her knees, her hands unconsciously rubbing over the tear in her hakama, the place where not long ago her flesh had been torn open. It was as though it had never happened at all. She swallowed hard, feeling suddenly nauseated by the thought of all that blood, and forced her mind to focus on something else.

The demon sat with his back against a large cedar tree, as though they were merely relaxing for an afternoon chat. The rain had stopped, but the ground remained saturated. She could feel the cool damp seeping into her pants but he didn't seem the least bit bothered by it. In his hand was his demon sword, now drawn, and he seemed to be examining it in the dim grey light. The blade was not sharp, she could see that even from where she sat, and the handle was worn from years of use. The demon frowned as he studied his blade, as though the very sight of it displeased him.

"Did you use that to heal me?"

He did not answer but instead returned the blade to his sheath. He rose to his feet as if to leave and she found herself scrambling to stop him.

"Wait! At least let me thank you. I thought for sure I was going to die…"

"You did," he answered calmly enough.

"I…" her words faltered and her hands felt down her body, squeezing this part and that. She felt real enough and the forest certainly seemed real. Was this the afterlife? Somehow it seemed rather underwhelming.

"Am I a ghost?"

He turned more fully towards her and answered, "No."

A myriad of emotions crossed her face just then as she had no hope of disguising them. Her mouth slowly opened and closed, but there were no words to express what she felt. Needing some outlet for the emotions crashing through her, her eyes welled up with tears and she quickly wiped them away with her sleeve.

"Are you saying you brought me back to life with that sword?"

He glanced down at the blade now sheathed at his side. "It was insistent. Troublesome fang."

To think that a demon sword of all things had saved her life. She could do little more than gape up at him in mute shock.

"Do not wander so far into the woods," he cautioned her with a stern look. "There are worse dangers than wild boar."

She nodded her head in understanding. It was then that a question struck her and it was out of her mouth before she could think to stop it.

"How did you know where to find me?"

"I followed the scent of your blood."

"My…blood? And you came to help me? I thought your kind didn't care for humans."

The expression in his eyes turned cold and he answered with a curt, "We don't."

He had only retreated a few paces into the woods before he picked up the sounds of her stumbling after him. He glanced back over his shoulder, watching as she jumped onto and then over a sizeable log.

"Are you following me?"

"Well," she replied somewhat breathless from her efforts to keep up, "I've never been this deep into the forest before so I don't know how to get home."

He sighed and resumed his trek through the trees, though she noticed he seemed to move at a more accommodating pace than he had before.

"Are you leading me home then?" she wondered and tried not to sound breathless as she spoke. Despite his change in pace, it still felt as though they were climbing the mountain directly towards its peak.

He sent a dismissive glance over his shoulder and answered, "Do not fall behind."